Sugar Sweet
by Sileny
Summary: High school brought new beginnings. It brought change, most for the better. And it also brought a sweet shop. Who knew that one little sweet shop could impact so many lives and bring people closer together? Sequel to Shine.
1. Prologue

Just a quick little foreword: Sugar Sweet is the sequel to Shine, so I recommend that you read Shine first as there are some incidents which happened in the former are mentioned in Sugar Sweet (as is with mose sequels. XD). And that is all I have to say in this small spot up here. =(^_^)=

* * *

**Sugar Sweet  
**By Sileny

**_Prologue_**

Asa let out a soft sigh as she continued her trip down the busy street. She had just finished a hospital checkup and had decided to do a bit of window-shopping before she headed home. Or… maybe she'd actually do some shopping, since she would be the only one home tonight and the fridge was empty.

Again.

_I guess that means grocery shopping for me, _she thought, shouldering her purse to a steadier position on her shoulder as she walked. But that didn't mean that she wasn't going to check out a few of the other shops. _Seika needs some more cat food, too, now that I think about it, _she said to herself, pausing in front of the pet store with one finger to her chin as she thought.

"Cat food, cat food," she murmured to herself as she made her way to the food section upon deciding that Seika's current supply of food needed to be replenished. "Ah… here it is," she murmured, reaching up to take them off the shelf when her cell phone rang. "Hmm? That's funny…" she murmured, taking out the communication device and flipping it open.

"Moshimoshi?" she asked, picking out the cat food that she wanted and making her way to the counter. "This is Ijuuin Asa speaking. Can I help you?" She paid for her purchases and headed outside with her bag.

"My, my, so formal, are you?" Oshitari's voice drawled into her ear through the phone. "Are you busy this afternoon?"

"Eh…? Not quite…"

"Good. Come over to the Atobe mansion; Seigaku is over as well. We're holding high tea and expect that you be over soon. See you then." The line went dead, leaving one puzzled Asa to contemplate what she had just been told. _Well… I don't have anything to lose, do I? I might as well see what it is. Atobe's mansion, was it?_

Now there was only one problem…

_Where the heck is Atobe's mansion supposed to be?!_

***

Atobe was in his element as host for his high tea. "This tea is of highest quality," he was boasting as his butler set down a tray laden with delicate porcelain teacups and a matching teapot besides another tray laden with beautifully decorated cakes. "Enjoy Ore-sama's expertise in selecting high quality tea. This is Ceylon tea; try it alone first in order to taste the flavor and aroma. Of course, it's served in Wedgwood dishes."

Fuji looked curiously at the delicate cup he held in his hand. Trust Atobe to have china from expensive English chinaware companies ready to use at his disposal. He sipped slowly in an attempt to follow the offered advice of savoring the aroma and flavor, but in truth, it really just tasted like tea to him. It _did_ have a nice smell, though…

"Master Keigo. The last of your guests have arrived." Atobe nodded briefly as Asa was ushered into the spacious room and shown to a seat on the sofa. "Would you care for a cup of tea?" She had just set down her shopping bag when a teacup filled with the warm, dark amber liquid was handed to her.

"Thank you," she murmured when the butler moved off to stand to the side, ready to serve every need of his master's should the need arise. "Hmm… this scent is almost like citrus to a certain degree. Is it Ceylon, by any chance?"

Eiji looked startled. "No way! Aa-chan can tell?"

"Um… only a few kinds…"

"Maa, maa… it's still impressive," Fuji said brightly. "We're glad you came to high tea." Asa glanced around at the Seigaku regulars who were there. Of all nine of them, only Tezuka looked truly comfortable in this atmosphere as he sipped away at his tea, looking as if he was contemplating which cake to take from the cake tray. The Hyotei regulars were perfectly at home with something like this; as expected of people who were rich.

Miho grinned at her friend from over her teacup. "What do you think?" she asked cheekily. "This is your first time attending high tea, right? Atobe-kun serves the best; it's always fun when he invites everyone."

Atobe frowned into his cup, setting it down and motioning for it to be refilled. It was done promptly. "Fun? Ore-sama considers it a sophisticated way of relaxing." But he looked quite happy with the compliment, and for the briefest of moments, Asa couldn't detect any hint of pride on his face. _Atobe Keigo is a surprising person, at times,_ she decided. _He puts on a strong outer image but inside he's really a nice person._ "Try a cake. They'll be disgusting if they grow stale. The decorations are made of candy, a feat that is the masterwork of a professional pastry chef."

Eiji was ecstatic at the array of sweets. "They look delicious!" he said happily. "Which one do I want, nya…? They all look too cute to eat!"

Gakuto scolded him. "Cakes were made to be eaten, you know."

"Of course I know that!" Eiji replied heatedly, and before they knew it the two acrobatic players were holding a lively argument. They were soon joined by Momo and Kaidoh with Hiyoshi. Shisido even graced them with his arguing skills, when he got too annoyed with the loud voices around him. This dragged Oishi and Choutarou into the fray as well, when they tried, their efforts in vain, to calm everyone down.

"My, my… everyone's getting so fired up," Oshitari said, selecting a cake and breaking off one of the fragile candy petals of a blossom it sported. "Mmm… very sweet," he muttered as he popped the petal into his mouth and sucked on the candy.

"I think it's perfect," Fuji said cheerfully, biting into his own cake with a satisfied expression on his face. "The sweetness is just right. What if I were to put wasabi on it…?"

"Don't even try; you'd ruin the cake right then and there."

Fuji pouted before turning to Asa, who was holding a cake in her hands and staring at it. Doing nothing but staring at it. "What's wrong?" he asked, cocking his head to one side.

"It's nothing… but it would be a shame to eat such a pretty and perfect cake, wouldn't it?"

Of to the side, Gakuto was getting fired up as he defended his case. "CAKES ARE MEANT TO BE EATEN! IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW THEY LOOK!"

Eiji's annoyed voice snapped back at him. "AND I TOLD YOU I KNOW THAT ALREADY!"

Who said rich and sophisticated go hand in hand?

"So loud…" Oshitari, and Fuji offered as one, Fuji reaching over and breaking off a leaf from Asa's cake as he spoke. She blinked and then looked at him with a sullen expression on her face. "Now it's not so perfect and you can eat it," the genius said helpfully, sucking contentedly on the candy leaf. "Aren't I right?" She chose not to answer him.

Tea ended an hour later with the argument finally being broken up. Eiji and Gakuto complained that their throats hurt as they were shown to the door, with Miho grinning behind them as she popped the last bite of her cake into her mouth, licking sticky fingers. "Thank you for the invite!" she said cheerfully as she headed off for her own house with Oshitari in tow.

Atobe smirked as his guests left his sight before turning his attention to Fuji. "Be awed by Ore-sama's generosity."

"Oh, I'm utterly stunned speechless, Atobe-kun." He grinned mischievously at his puzzled expression, watching as Atobe wondered whether or not that was a direct insult to his hospitality. "But really, thank you for the invitation. It was really fun." He gave a nod to the diva as he began to drag Asa away on their own walk towards their homes, leaving Atobe standing in his doorway.

"Che… Seigaku," he said softly. "Always full of surprises, they are, even outside of the courts; how interesting." His sharp eyes focused on Fuji's back as the boy chattered to Asa (they were out of his hearing range but still within sight). The genius seemed rather happy and more playful than usual, as seen from his light teasings sprinkled all throughout the tea (most directed towards the members of his own team; it looked like Fuji had grown tired of only teasing his own teammates). Atobe had noticed as he watched his assembled guests over his own cup of tea. Atobe noticed all that went around his residence. "Fuji is an interesting character, na, Kabaji? He's almost like candy; the perfect blend of sweetness."

And the huge boy who stood besides him gave a slow nod and spoke only one word, as was his norm. "Usu."

* * *

A/N: It's a... rather longish prologue. And it rambles. Whoops. But I do like the idea of Fuji being compared to candy. You know... if it's too sweet it makes you blanch, but if it's not sweet enough it wouldn't be called candy anymore.

Please read and review (like always!) (I hope...)!


	2. Chapter 1

**_Chapter 1_**

It was a pity, really, that summer vacation was almost over. Fuji was a bit sorry about this as he lay on Eiji's bed, flipping through a book he had picked up on his friend's desk. Said friend was currently hunched over the desk, where he was viciously attacking a mountain of summer work that he had failed to complete earlier. Eiji's bedroom was quiet save for the furious scratching of Eiji's pen and the occasional rustling of a page turn as Fuji progressed in his book.

At around noon, one of Eiji's older brothers poked his head into the youngest sibling's room. "You have more guests," he said grumpily, looking sulky. Somehow, one way or another, he had managed to get himself grounded in these last few days of summer vacation and was now forbidden from leaving the house and having fun. "She comes bearing gifts; wish someone would do that to me." He left then, slamming the door with much more force then absolutely necessary.

Eiji's frazzled nerves could not take this any longer. "Don't slam my door!" he shrieked, leaving his work and shooting out of his door after his elder sibling. Fuji was left behind with his book and a puzzled expression on his face.

_Note to self: never tease Eiji when he's in a state such as this one unless you are seriously bored and need entertainment._

Reassured by this train of thought, the honey-haired genius returned to his book, only to look up again when the door reopened. A bashful looking Eiji was standing there, rubbing his head in embarrassment as he muttered apologies. "Gomen, gomen," he was saying.

"It's alright," Miho's cheerful voice sounded. "It's difficult in these last few days, ne, what with scrambling to get all the summer work done, am I right?" At the mention of summer work Eiji let out a startled little gasp and instantly reestablished himself at his desk and his homework. "Whoops… I think I said something wrong… oh, hi, Fuji-kun."

Fuji smiled brightly at the girl, returning her greeting with a wave of his hand. "So you're the guest who come bearing gifts?" he asked.

Miho blinked, then looked down at the hamper she held in her hands. Realization hit her like a brick. "Yeah! I guess you can say that! Want a cookie?" She flipped open the hamper and rummaged in it, pulling out a cookie wrapped neatly in a napkin. "It's chocolate chip," she offered. "Eiji told me once he liked chocolate."

"Oh…?" Fuji perked up; this was interesting. "It's quite delicious," he commented, biting into the snack. Miho looked quite happy at the praise. "Why did you plan a visit over here today?" he asked curiously, popping the rest of the baked dessert into his mouth.

Miho shrugged. "I just thought about dropping over. It_ is_ the last few days of break, after all."

"Ah… true." Somehow, he had a feeling that she was hiding something.

Miho sighed lightly as she sat down next to Fuji, watching Eiji as the boy scrambled to get the rest of his work done. "Maybe we can do something when Eiji's done with his work." _One point for me,_ Fuji said to himself. She glanced curiously at Eiji's hunched back before turning her attention to Fuji's book. "What book are you reading?"

Fuji handed the book over to her. "I just picked it up. It's actually much interesting then the cover implies."

"Don't judge a book by its cover, ne?"

Fuji chuckled, taking the book back and continuing to read it. "Quite right."

***

Eiji _did_ manage to finish his schoolwork. The fact that he managed to finish it in the next hour made him quite proud, considering that he had nearly a thousand math problems to solve (Miho would be leaning over his shoulder as he did them, occasionally spouting out a few formulas), a whole English essay to write (he whined to Fuji all the while he was writing it), a Japanese history paper to write (here he whined to Miho again, Fuji having excused himself for a few moments at this point in time), and a science report (which involved whining to both of his friends while they leaned over his shoulders as he scribbled down answers).

"I'm finally done…!" he sighed, dropping his pen down on the desk and collapsing backwards against the back of his chair. "I hate summer homework!" he wailed, looking absolutely miserable. Miho handed him a cookie and he promptly stuffed the whole thing into his mouth so that his cheeks puffed up like those of a chipmunk's when it has a particularly large amount of nuts it was carrying.

"Eiji! Chew first! Chew, chew! What if you choked on it?!"

Eiji swallowed his snack and looked thoughtful for a few minutes. "Well, if I _do_ choke, you could always administer CPR, right?" She fell silent, looking at him like he had totally lost his mind. Her silence was broken only by Fuji's chuckling, and Miho whirled on him, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Fuji-kun, it's not funny!" she retorted angrily. "Choking is a serious hazard and should be treated as such!"

Fuji looked up at her furious face, looking faintly bemused. "Choking?" he asked innocently. "I wasn't laughing at that." He held up his book and pointed to a line on the page he was currently reading. "This line was rather funny when I read it," he explained. Miho sighed, although Eiji looked curiously at the line.

"'The blood of my enemies'?" she read, her brow furrowing in confusion. Eiji let out a squeak and leaped backwards, a horrified expression on his face. Anyone who thought that line was funny was to be feared. Greatly feared. "What's so funny about that?"

"Maa… maybe it's a personal thing," Fuji sighed, flipping the book shut and returning it to the desk. "It's a little better if you read the sentence before it." Eiji gulped, clinging to Miho and watching Fuji warily. As for the girl herself, she simply blinked in confusion, although she didn't pursue the topic any further. "Were we going to go somewhere?" he asked sweetly.

Miho perked up. "Oh, that!" she said brightly, before digging into her pocket. "Ta-da! Gakuto's family opened a new dessert shop, and Nii-san recommended it to me. I thought it would be fun if we could all go and check it out."

Eiji was all for it, nodding enthusiastically. Fuji nodded, too. "That sounds like fun. Let's go, then." They were halfway to the front door when Fuji paused, looking rather thoughtful. "Is Aa-chan coming?" he asked, looking curious.

"Iie… Aa-chan is busy today. Nii-san is still teaching her tennis." She tipped her head to the side. "But maybe we'll meet up with her later. You never know, ne?"

"Life would be boring if you knew everything."

***

Gakuto was pleasantly surprised to see the two Seigaku Regulars enter his family's newest sweet store. "News travels fast with Yuushi, doesn't it?" he asked, giving a faint shrug. He and Eiji exchanged a few friendly banters about who would win the next match (Gakuto still stubbornly insisting that he would one day beat Eiji straight into the ground with his superior acrobatics) while they found seats at a window table. Gakuto put down a menu onto the table. "I'm helping out on opening day. What would you like?" Had it not been for his slightly sulky expression, he would have made the perfect waiter. When they had ordered, he vanished behind the counter.

"The atmosphere here is nice, ne?" Fuji remarked softly, leaning his head on his hand. Miho nodded, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on them. Eiji played with the edges of the tablecloth as they waited for their orders to come.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" a cheerful voice sounded out. "I hope you didn't wait long!"

"Eh… no, not really…" Fuji started, although he paused. "Aa-chan? I thought you were having a tennis lesson."

She pouted. "How many times do you want me to get crushed by Oshitari-kun?" she asked sulkily, setting down their orders in front of them. "I lost miserably; guess that's what I get for playing against him, ne? Here you go. Enjoy!"

"Really, now." Oshitari's voice reached their ears and the Hyotei regular appeared behind her. "It wasn't that much of a loss. You got two games."

"Only because Oshitari-kun went easy on me," Asa muttered, but she still looked quite cheerful.

Miho blinked in surprise at the appearance of her brother. "Nii-san!"

At the same time, Gakuto's head popped up as he noticed his friend's presence in the store. "Yo, Yuushi! Help out a bit, won't you?"

"Maa, Gakuto… haven't I already helped out? I did advertising for you."

"But… but… Yuushi…!"

Asa grinned at their antics before turning to her Seigaku friends. "Do you want anything else?" she asked, holding the round serving tray loosely at her side.

"Iie, we're fine. Thanks a lot," Fuji said, as Eiji's cheeks were already bulging from the cake he was shoveling happily into his mouth and Miho was similarly engaging herself in doing the cake well-deserved justice. "From the looks of Eiji, this should be rather delicious."

"It is," Asa reassured the boy. "Gakuto-kun's family owns a chain of sweet shops that sell some of the best sweets in all of Japan." Ah… even she was going along on the advertising line. "And the apple pie is made with fresh Fuji apples. Gakuto-kun says that it's one of the best items on the list." She nodded to Fuji's plate and the boy's face lit up. He quite liked Fuji apples; Eiji said that it was the only normal food that he ate.

A cheerful jingling of bells signified another customer entering, so Asa excused herself and went to find them a table while Fuji attacked his pie in a very eager manner.

"Imst mit noinc?" Eiji asked, his cheeks still bulging as he chewed happily on his mouthful of cake.

Fuji chuckled as he chewed on his own forkful, and then swallowed. "I don't speak full mouth, Eiji," he said playfully.

With only slight difficulty, Eiji swallowed. "I said, isn't it nice?" he repeated himself. Fuji smiled brightly and nodded, digging his fork back into the gooey filling of his pie.

Loud voices directed their attention to the newcomers of the store. Eiji's eyes narrowed as the cat-like boy caught sight of who was causing the commotion. "Sasabe," he spat out, his grip tightening on his fork. "Why are they always popping up, nya? They look as annoying as usual."

"Eiji!" Miho scolded, although she looked slightly wary, as well.

"Well, it's true, nya!"

"Can I get you anything?" Asa asked, looking on nervously as Mr. Sasabe and his sons argued over what to get on the menu. "May I recommend the Strawberry Cream Cake?" she offered, although she wondered whether or not they heard her over their arguing. "Are you ready for ordering?" she ventured forward when their argument switched to the topic of sports.

"Give us a few moments. Shoo, shoo."

"Could I get you something to drink, perhaps, then?"

The youngest Sasabe looked up with a bored expression on his face. "Whatever; I'll have a Ponta." Asa nodded and went off to get the drink, shooting a glance behind her shoulder at the still arguing father and sons as she did.

_What a strange trio,_ she thought, taking the drink out of the icebox and opening the can with a small click. Finding a glass, she filled it a third of the way with ice cubes and then poured the soda into it, watching the bubbles for a while before picking up the glass and grabbing a straw as she returned to the table. Their argument had toned down a bit, she was glad to note as she set down the glass of Ponta. "Have you--?"

She was interrupted by Mr. Sasabe's furious glare at her, leaving her wondering what she had ever done to annoy the old man. To the relief of her nerves, he turned his icy glance to his sons. "Can you believe it?" he asked, totally ignoring her. "I can't believe she rejected my proposal," he was grumbling. He rested his chin on his laced fingertips and an absolutely horrid expression crossed his face. "It was a perfectly wonderful proposal, if I do say so myself," he grumbled, glaring darkly at the ceiling above his head. "That stupid, brainless, doltish, workaholic of a woman…" He never quite finished his train of thought, so worked up was he that he ended up growling deep in his throat.

_Geez… I wonder who it is that could get so many degenerative names tagged to them,_ Asa thought, standing off to the side as she waited for them to place an order. Sometimes she hated being a waitress, and this was only her first day on the job. She gave a light sigh, closing her eyes and giving a small shake of her head.

Sasabe's black eyes narrowed into slits as he composed himself so that he could utter out a coherent sentence. "That annoying brat called Ijuuin Chikako," he finished.

Asa's eyes snapped open and her hand tightened on her serving tray. Ijuuin Chikako… Ijuuin… Ijuuin…

_That's my mother…!_

Miho frowned at her table, setting down her fork neatly on her plate. Fuji stood, an unreadable expression on his face. "Ah…" he said softly. Eiji gulped; Fuji had a dangerous aura coming off of him. "So the Sasabe's begin to attack." All eyes turned toward the trio, and then they were surprised.

Asa slipped a dazzling smile onto her face. "Excuse me, sir," she said, the very picture of pure, sugary sweetness (Eiji wondered how she was able to pull it off without looking like a total fake), "but can I ask what proposal you offered to Ijuuin-san, the head of the company that manufactures new electronic devices and specializes in those for the use of personal entertainment? I'm really interested in learning about business and all of its branches, so I'd love it if you'd share a bit of your knowledge with me."

"She's totally bluffing," Oshitari mumbled, taking a sip of his tea as he sat down besides his sister. "Fuji, you're a bad role model. I swear she's planning something dark in that mind of hers." Fuji gave him an elusive smile and a little shrug (Eiji now had the answer to his previous question; she had learned from the master!), sitting back down and crossing his arms over his chest.

Sasabe was surprised with the request, although his pride soon showed. Here was a perfect chance to elevate himself in the eyes of a curious young girl. Besides, if she was as interested in business as she claimed, perhaps she could be an asset to him. His gold tooth gleamed as he laughed to himself about the sheer genius of his plan. "Of course," he said boldly, immediately looking much more cheerful. "Listen carefully, then. I can trust you to keep this all to yourself, can I?"

"Of course you can! I won't tell a soul!"

In the space of five seconds, Asa had Sasabe spilling all of his business proposals (failed at being accepted, every last one of them) to her. She listened attentively, nodding here, inserting a few agreeing phrases at Sasabe's genius there, and generally acting like someone who was totally besotted with an idol. Sasabe wrapped up his narrative, flashing a large grin at her (which was accompanied by another flash of that painfully gold tooth of his), and then proceeded to tip her generously. Then, he stood, remarking about how much better he was feeling, and left the sweet shop with his sons in tow.

Asa laughed as soon as they were well outside of the shop and out of earshot. "No wonder Okaa-san rejected all of their proposals," she twittered. "The Sasabe's fail at business; they must be rich only on inheritance."

"Nya? Why do you say that, Aa-chan?"

"If the Sasabe's were to run a business, and they used those kinds of proposals in order to collaborate with bigger companies, they'd go bankrupt within a couple months," Oshitari explained, looking bored. "Otou-san has already briefed these… proposals… with me. It's part of his way of getting me ready for entering business when I graduate." He sighed, sipping his tea before talking again. "Personally, I'm surprised that he's still going after all those refusals. How many was it? 5? 7? That's why Sasabe must be rich purely on inheritance money. Or perhaps money from when he was a tennis pro. I heard he was an alright player in his younger days."

Asa shrugged. "Either way you put it, I never want to see them ever again. They're so rude… arguing so loudly in a public place." She left at that moment to attend to an elderly couple who entered, and Fuji looked thoughtful as he poked his half-eaten pie with his fork.

"Saa… I say we embarrass them again like we did the other times we met with them," he offered cheerful, a sadistic smile on his face. "It should be… fun."

"And what do you suggest, Fuji?" Oshitari asked, setting down his teacup, watching his Seigaku counterpart with a critical eye.

Fuji grinned widely, leaning forward and beckoning the other two boys and Miho closer with his finger. "Listen to me. Here's what we do…"

* * *

A/n: Bwahahaha!!! Cliffhanger! =P

Personally, I've never liked the Sasabe's. They're annoying, they're rude, and they're just plain stupid. Who doesn't warm up before playing a serious tennis match and then expects that they'll be right as rain, honestly? I was almost laughing with glee when I saw the debut of Sasabe Elder and watched Ryoma cream him by making him pull a muscle. *shakes fist triumphantly* Although the eldest does have good tennis skills when compared to his father...

But, of course, it's not as good as our favorite Regulars! ^_^

So... that's where you get my train of thoughts where it involves the Sasabe's and them having a company. Again, personally, I don't think they have what it takes to run an effective and profitable business.

Please read and review! Thank you bunches!


	3. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

"Thank you for letting us use your house as headquarters!" Miho, Eiji, and Fuji trilled as one as a puzzled Asa let them into her front door the next morning. Oshitari brought up the rear, his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans and a bored look on his face. Everything about him emitted the attitude of 'why on earth was I dragged here?'

"Ah… OK?" Asa offered, shutting the door after her friends made their grand entrances. "I'll go make some tea, then! Please make yourselves comfortable." She showed them to the living room, and they settled down, Fuji pulling out several sheets of paper and laying them down nice and neatly on the coffee table. Asa chuckled nervously as she slipped into the kitchen to make the promised tea. Was it just her, or were they taking this whole 'humiliating the Sasabe's plan' a little too seriously?

Looking thoughtful, she pulled out the tea set and filled a kettle with water, setting it on the stove so that it could boil. In the living room, she could hear her friends conversing in hushed voices. _I wonder what they're planning,_ she thought, taking the whistling kettle and pouring some of the boiling water into the teapot, adding in the tea leaves and watching them float at the top of the water for a while before setting the top onto the pot. _Or perhaps I should be saying that I wonder what Fuji is planning…_

"Tea's ready. I found some biscuits, too. Uh… what were you guys planning?"

Fuji looked up innocently from where he was sprawled out on the couch, frowning at a pad of paper in his hands. He was the very image of a scheming little boy, what with his accomplices Miho and Eiji also frowning at similar pads of paper as they sat with their backs against that same couch. Oshitari was still looking like he could care less about being here, although he accepted a cup of tea graciously enough. "Tea!" Fuji said brightly, bouncing upright and pouring himself a cup of the steaming liquid. "Thank you lots!"

Asa smiled at him as she sat down on the couch and picked up a biscuit, nibbling on it as Fuji chattered away cheerfully. Sometimes she wondered whether or not he really was fifteen years old. He certainly acted much younger on many occasions.

Fuji sidled up to her, smiling mischievously. Almost as if reading her mind, he chuckled and teased playfully, "Are you wondering why I don't act more mature? That's 'cause I _am_ only three years old…"

"Well… when you put it like that…" Only he could pull off that excuse, she supposed, since his birthday was on Leap Day. Some people were just so lucky. She heaved a sigh as she popped the rest of the biscuit into her mouth, savoring the milky flavor.

"Ne, Aa-chan, want to hear our plan for paying back the Sasabe's?" Eiji asked cheekily, grinning up at his friend.

"For the sake of my sanity, I'd rather not." Somehow, she got the impression that she'd be up for nights on end worrying about how on earth anyone could live through one of Fuji's punishments.

"Oh… I see…" Fuji looked faintly disappointed but cheered up rather quickly, refilling his teacup and taking another sip. "In that case, how about you don't watch?" he offered. "I suppose you could say it will be a scarring experience. But that's just the fun of it, ne?"

"Uh…"

"It's settled then! Just sit back and wait for the good news!"

Fuji was a little too cheerful about scarring the Sasabe's, and Asa began to wonder why on earth she ever decided to become Fuji Syusuke's friend. The reasoning was simply too complex for her to figure out at that exact moment.

***

True to Fuji's word, she did not have to watch the Sasabe's go through Fuji's horrendously sadistic punishment. It seemed, actually, that it was so life-scarring that even Miho, Eiji, and Oshitari, all three of whom helped Fuji hatch his plan and then carry it out, could not bring themselves to talk about it. Walking to school on the first day, Asa listened quietly as the three conversed in hushed voices, every once in a while shooting the smiling Fuji a frightened glance. Even Oshitari, who was in Asa's opinion never daunted by anything, seemed frightened of the brown haired tensai.

"I suppose it's not a good idea to ask what happened?" Asa ventured forth when they were halfway to the high school.

All three whirled on her. "NO!!!" they fairly shrieked as one.

Asa leaped backwards, clutching her schoolbag for dear life. "O-ok…" she squeaked out. _If it managed to shake them up so badly, I'm glad that I was spared from watching it._

The rest of the trip was carried on in silence, although they had to sprint when they neared school because the warning bell was ringing. "You know… you'd think that they'd be a tad bit more lenient on the first day of school…" Miho panted as she scrambled after Eiji and her brother. "Tough luck, eh?"

All five managed to make it into the schoolyard before the gates closed, much to all their reliefs. "Let's see where our classrooms are," Asa offered in betweens light pants of breath. "I'm going to suppose that that's where everyone's going, right?" She pointed to the students filing into the school building. "I think in that large welcome packet it said that our classes would be posted on a bulletin in the main hall." Her companions gave a nod and they slipped into the stream of uniformed students.

Asa wedged herself in between two girls who were ecstatic about their class arrangements. "Look, look, Saa-chan!" one of them was exclaiming to the other, clapping her hands. "We're going to be in the same class!" _It'd be nice if I was in Miho-chan's class,_ Asa mused as she scanned the names on one of the sheets of paper tacked onto the bulletin board. _Actually, I suppose it'd be nice if I was in class with any of my friends._ "Class A3…" she muttered to herself when she found her name. Ijuuin Asa was printed neatly next to her class number and grade. Pivoting on the spot, she forced herself out of the mass of students.

Fuji was standing at the edge of the crowd of people, having managed to find his class number already and having then decided that it was a tad bit claustrophobic to stay in the front, although he would have liked to see all of the frustrated expressions on the other students when they figured out that he was just standing there in order to take up space. That would have been amusing, to say the least. "Ah… Aa-chan!" he said brightly, waving the girl over when he saw her squeeze out of the crowd. "What class are you in? I'm in Class A1."

"Oh… A1…?" Asa drooped momentarily before shaking off her initial disappointment. _Guess that means I'm not in Fuji's class… but there must be other friends that got into my class, right?_ "I'm in Class A3."

Fuji masked his own disappointment quite well, if he should have said so himself. "Is that so?" he asked amiably. "No problem; I'm sure there'll be other of our friends in our classes." He smiled cheerfully at her before pointing a finger at the ceiling as an idea struck him. "Let's go see what class everyone else is in! I think we have a few minutes before they're making our first class start."

As it turned out, Class A1 had a lot of their friends in it. Atobe Keigo, Mukahi Gakuto, and Inui Sadaharu all got into Fuji's class. Miho was in Asa's class, along with Shishido Ryou, Eiji, Tezuka, and Akutagawa Jiroh. Oishi had been put into Class A2 with Oshitari, and Kabaji was in Class A4 with Taka-san. "It'll be fun with both Eiji-kun and Miho-chan in my class, ne, Fuji-kun?" Asa asked brightly. She was silenced by a glare from a rather annoyed looking Shishido. "Well… it was a thought…" she squeaked, shrinking back slightly under Shishido's killer glare. The bell for the first class suddenly rang, and the students scattered. Asa waved to Fuji before running off with Miho to find their classes. "We'll see you guys at lunch, then!" she called over her shoulder as they turned a corner and ran down another hall.

Fuji waved cheerily back at them before he was dragged off to class by Inui. Atobe was walking just a little in front of them, since it was clear that it was above his league to run to his class in order to get there on time. "I wonder what they're going to teach us on the first day?" Fuji asked. "Or are they just going to do that boring orientation thing they usually do? That wouldn't be fun…" He paused for a moment before launching into a spirited monologue. "I'm going to sign up for the tennis team as soon as school's over! Are you going, too, Inui? I bet you could have a lot of fun making new delicious Inui Juices for everyone! Also, I think that--"

Poor Inui was left to listen to Fuji's happy chatterings all by himself, and even shoving the prodigy into the classroom didn't do much to stop him. He just simply switched topics. Inui gave a sigh. As much as he would have loved to be in the same class as Fuji so that he could finish his data gathering on him, he wasn't sure his sanity would last for a long time if Fuji kept talking the way he was now.

"—and did you know that… saa, Inui, what's wrong?"

"Nothing… absolutely nothing…"

"Oh... if you insist..."

***

When school was over, Asa discovered that Fuji had already developed a fanclub. This was discovered when Fuji had popped over to Class A3 to meet up with Eiji and Tezuka after classes, and the girls in the class instantly flocked to him. This added to the flock of girls who had followed him from his own class. Point being: Fuji was popular, possibly even more so than Atobe. _Speaking of Atobe, I wonder how he'll take this…_

"You'll miss the signups if you stay here all day," came Atobe's haughty voice. He, too, was followed by a flock of girls.

Asa and Miho sighed in exasperation. "You know what, Miho-chan? I have a feeling that this is going to be a_ long_ year."

"I second that," Miho sighed, planting her hands on her hips as she watched the two boys. "Although… personally, I'm rather surprised that the girls in Class A1 didn't flock to Atobe but instead flocked to Fuji. Does this mean anything?"

Asa thought for a few seconds, and a little image of a chibified Fuji and Atobe popped into her head. Both chibi versions were dressed as shepherds, and each had a flock of little chibi sheep. "Uh… I think I won't comment on that…" There was no doubt in her mind that Fuji and Atobe would plan something painful for her if she blurted out her little mental image. They had pride, after all.

"Come on, let's go sign up!" Fuji chirped brightly, grabbing Eiji and Tezuka by the wrists and bowling straight out of the crowd. The three of them left a trail of dust in their wake, or, more like Fuji left a trail of dust in his wake.

Asa sighed again. "Well… it's great that some of them have plenty of energy to spare," she offered. "Let's go, too, Miho-chan! The girl's tennis team is also signing up today, and you wanted to enter, right? We've got to hurry! Hurry!"

It took a while, but the two girls finally managed to push their way out of the building. It certainly got crowded with so many students all trying to leave to go home at one time. The signups for both of the tennis teams were full of people, with long lines extending from behind each registration table. "Look at all the people, Aa-chan!" Miho gasped as they took a spot in line for the girl's team. "This will make getting onto the Regular's line-up all the more difficult."

"Yeah, but won't that make it all the more fun?" Asa asked, smiling brightly as she stood next to Miho.

"I know!" Miho said brightly, turning to her friend. "You should sign up, too! You'll be able to learn more about tennis, and it'll be fun, as well!"

"Do you really think so?" Asa asked, not looking too sure about this idea. Miho nodded enthusiastically, so she offered her friend a little smile. "Well, I suppose it won't hurt…" Except two seconds later she was shaking her head. "Gomen, Miho-chan… but I just remembered that I have work. You know, at the sweet shop. Sorry…"

"No problem! Just come to our matches, then!"

"Ah… hai!"

Footsteps behind them directed their attention to Fuji and Eiji. "Are you signing up?" Fuji asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Miho-chan is," Asa offered, pointing to her friend. "Did you two sign up?"

Eiji popped up from behind Fuji and nodded enthusiastically while Fuji chuckled. "Of course we did. It went really smoothly, too, as opposed to what I thought. I thought that it was going to be really difficult to sign up, but the senpai-tachi running the registration table were really knowledgeable. It's not often you meet people like that." He smiled brightly, waving slightly as Tezuka and Atobe walked over to join them. "Ranking matches are going to start the day after tomorrow; tomorrow we're all getting tennis team uniforms and everyone's going to begin training to rebuild strength and stamina," he finished.

Asa watched as Miho filled out a clipboard for her own registration and then bounced over to meet up with her friends. "Sounds like the boy's tennis team will be busy, ne?" she asked absentmindedly. "Oh, look at the time," she muttered, glancing at her wristwatch. "It's already three o'clock…"

There was silence for a few minutes before she suddenly let out a startled shriek. "Oh no! Three o'clock; I have to be at the sweet shop!" She gave her friends an apologetic smile. "Sorry guys. I have to go. See you later." And then she was off, running out of the schoolyard, one hand digging into her schoolbag for change that she could use to catch a bus to get to the shop. _Maybe I should have asked for a later shift,_ she thought, running to the bus stop and pausing to catch her breath for a few seconds.

Five minutes later, she got off the bus and dashed into the shop. "I'm so sorry I'm late!" she said to the other girl who was also having a shift that day. "I know your shift ended earlier. Thanks for covering for me; something came up and wouldn't go down."

The other girl smiled kindly at her. "No problem. You'd better hurry up and change. Work extra hard and the boss won't know a thing." She winked playfully at Asa and she grinned back.

"Thank you!" she said brightly and vanished into the back room. She emerged a few minutes later dressed and ready for work.

"Alright!" she said brightly. "Time for work! Ijuuin Asa is ready for anything!"


	4. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3_**

_I think I spoke too soon when I said that I was ready for anything…_

Asa was standing in front of a tall, pigtailed girl. She had a model's complexion, with a waist that would make any other girl jealous, gently wavy blond hair, and gently tanned skin. That girl was standing in front of the display case, hands planted on her hips, glaring at the array of sweets. "What kind of things are these?" she demanded, jabbing a finger at the glass case.

"They're sweets…" _What else would you expect in a sweet shop?_ "Would you like to order something? Can I get you something to drink, perhaps?" Asa asked.

The girl rounded on her, giving her a killer glare. Asa shrunk back slightly on instinct. "Look, you," she snapped, jabbing at Asa's front with a slender finger. "Don't you know who I am? I'm one of Japan's rising new stars." She turned, striking a pose, and giving a wink as only a superstar could give. "I'm Sato Aimi. Need I say more?"

Asa tipped her head to the side, looking thoughtful. "Sato Aimi…? Nope. I've never heard of it!" Aimi's jaw dropped straight to the floor. What was this nonsense? But before the disgruntled rising star could even say a word, another waitress popped up from behind the counter.

"Ijuuin-chan, your cell phone is ringing."

"Ah… thank you for telling me. I'll be quick." She was about to leave when something attached herself to her arm. Aimi was clinging to her as if her life depended on it. "Uh… can I help you?" Asa asked, looking puzzled.

"Your family name… it's Ijuuin, am I correct?" she asked.

Asa blinked. "Yeah… it is. Is there something wrong with that?" she asked. _This is… kind of awkward…_

Aimi's eyes fairly glowed. "Is something wrong with that? I can't believe this…! I meet the heir to the most prosperous and awesome electronic company, in the flesh, and that's the first thing she says to me?! But this is the best thing that could ever happen! I love the products that your company produces. You know the latest gaming system? My parents bought it for me as soon as it came out, and it can play all the best games! I'm happily anticipating your company's next product!"

_Now I know what all of the guys feel like when they're surrounded by fangirls._ "Oh… is that so?" Asa was so surprised that all she could do was say four words. She sounded so stupid after they left her mouth. "Well, I'm glad you like the products my mother's company makes. I think they're currently in the middle of developing their newest product. Now, if you excuse me, I have to answer a phone call."

Aimi let go of her arm willingly enough. "Of course! As company heir you must be very busy."

Asa laughed nervously as she grabbed her cell phone. Hopefully whoever was calling her wasn't so annoyed that she hadn't picked up yet. _I wonder if I should tell her that I'm not the heir… if anyone is going to be heir, it'll probably be Oshitari-kun, after all…_ "Moshimoshi?" she asked cheerfully into her phone as she flipped open the communication device. "This is Ijuuin Asa speaking. How can I help you?"

"Ah… Aa-chan!" Fuji's equally cheerful voice made it into Asa's ear. "I was beginning to think that you were annoyed with me and wouldn't answer my phone call. Is it too busy over at the shop for a few more?"

Asa pouted, although she knew full well that Fuji couldn't see it on of the other side of the line. "Annoyed? With _you_? Fuji Syusuke-kun, I do hope that you know that for someone to be annoyed with you requires a lot of willpower on the part of both sides. And you do know that if I were to say that customers were not allowed to come, I'd be fired, right?"

Fuji laughed on the other end. "If you say so, Aa-chan. Turn around."

"Huh…?" She obeyed, and came face to face with a smiling Fuji. She jumped slightly, and then recovered her composure, shutting her phone and tucking it into a pocket of her apron. "Konichiwa, Fuji-kun!" she said brightly. "Konichiwa, Miho-chan, Eiji-kun. Can I get you anything?"

"Can I have an iced tea?" Eiji asked, looking hopeful.

"Of course!" And so, Eiji was satisfied for the rest of his trip to the shop. "Do you guys want anything?"

"We'll browse for a bit," Miho piped up. "Thanks for offering. Let's look around, Eiji! They have so many delicious cakes… I don't know which one I want to eat today!"

Fuji stood next to Asa as he watched them browse through the wide selection. Cocking his head to one side, Fuji regarded her with a curious look. "So, how come you didn't pick up? I really did think that you were annoyed with me."

Asa smiled apologetically. "Gomen, gomen. I was talking to a new acquaintance of mine," she said cheerfully. "See? She's over there; her name is Sato Aimi-san."

"Ah… you mean that rising new star? Nee-san likes to talk about those things," Fuji murmured, "although, sometimes, Nee-san gets a bit overboard when talking about these things. Then it gets a tad annoying…" Asa chuckled lightly from her place at Fuji's shoulder, and he responded with a little pout. "It's not funny, Aa-chan!" he protested. "Don't you know how annoying it can get to hear about the same person over and over again?"

"Oh, but Fuji-kun! Don't you know that there are some people that you can hear about over and over again, and every time you hear them being mentioned it just gets better and better?" Fuji blinked in surprise, looking rather puzzled. Asa simply smiled innocently up at him. A moment later, his own usual smile was on his face, although when Eiji chanced a glance at his quiet friend, he swore that it was gentler than usual.

_I hope Aa-chan's talking about me,_ Fuji thought, allowing himself to be dragged to a table by Eiji now that he and Miho had picked out a few desserts that they wanted to try out. _Since she's so dense the chance may be slim but it's nice to think that way, ne?_

***

"Ah… I'm so glad it's time for lunch!" Asa said happily as she exited her classroom with Miho walking alongside her. "It's only the second day, and I'm already tired of classes. That's not a good sign, is it?"

"Saa, saa…!" Miho said cheerfully, patting her friend on the shoulder. "It's alright if lunchtime is the only highlight of a school day!"

"When you put it like that, I suppose it's alright," was Asa's bright response. Her morning had been excellent, and she was happy.

They had made it to the stairway by this time and were about to head down them in order to get to the cafeteria when a thundering sound behind them caught their attention. A stampede of students were hurtling toward them at a speed that both girls were sure was much too fast for a hallway. Asa was slammed into the railway as the crowd stormed past her.

_I wonder why everyone is moving so fast,_ she thought miserable as she watched the cloud of dust leave her line of sight. _It's not normal, is it?_ "Ne, Miho-chan," she asked her friend, straightening up and dusting herself off. "What do you think they're running for?"

Miho cocked her head to the side as she contemplated. "Maybe there's something good for lunch today?" she finally asked. "It is lunch period, after all." Her stomach suddenly growled, and she looked embarrassed. "Lunch, perhaps?" she asked hopefully. Asa grinned and they began their trek to the cafeteria, at a much slower pace than the other group did.

It was while in the cafeteria that the two girls discovered the reason behind the previous group of people. "I can't believe the cafeteria actually sells treats like these!" Asa murmured. There were several trays of small strawberry and chocolate cakes, each one looking wonderfully delicious and simply begging to be eaten. "They look wonderful!" she squeaked happily. "I'll take two, please," she said to the lady behind the counter, and exchanged her money for the two pieces of cake. "Miho-chan, I got you a piece," she said cheerfully when she returned to the table that the two of them had staked for themselves.

"Thank you!" Miho said brightly as she accepted the treat. "This just made my day," she said as she bit into the cake. "Mmm… it's good!"

"Saa… eating without us?" They turned to see Fuji and Eiji walking into the lunchroom. "Really, Aa-chan, it'd be nice if you came to get us,' he teased.

"I shall just tell you that you're slow," was Asa's reply, in the same teasing manner as Fuji's. "Want a piece of cake?" she asked, motioning to the cake piece. "If you two hurry, I think you might be able to get some."

Fuji smiled cheerfully, sitting down next to Asa. "It's alright. I can always supplement my sugar needs at the sweet shop after practice. Or steal some of yours, now that I think about it…" She looked sadly at him and he laughed, ruffling her head affectionately. She blinked up at him in puzzlement as he chuckled. "I think I'll settle with just going to the sweet shop, then," he said cheerfully. "You look too attached to your piece of cake to give it up."

She pouted at him, and then popped the rest of her treat into her mouth, turning her head to stare out the window with a little huff. Fuji just smiled brightly as he unwrapped his own lunch and dug into his meal. Their table was thus turned to light chatter about weekend plans, homework, and the like as they all ate their respective meals.

***

The high school that they had entered was filled with a majority of students who came from Hyotei. More than half of the students were varying levels of rich, with a few as rich as Atobe. Such was Nakamura Katsuo. His family ran a line of resort hotels, and as an only child, he was spoiled silly when he was young. One would think he was like Atobe, but Atobe was more sophisticated that him, by a long shot.

Nakamura was a sophomore, and a member on the tennis team. Asa and Miho's first encounter with the upperclassman was during the ranking matches. He had happened to be Fuji's first opponent. "Good luck, Fuji-kun," Asa said to Fuji before he vanished into the locker rooms to change. "Don't forget to have fun. Tennis is a game, remember?"

Fuji chuckled lightly. "Only because it's the first few games. When we get to Nationals, it'll be very serious!"

_He's certainly psyched up,_ Asa thought, nodding to him. "Miho-chan and I will be watching on the side," she told him before walking over to the courts. Miho bounced over to join her, and Fuji watched as the two girls chatted happily with each other before opening the locker room door and walking in.

There was no one else in the locker room. It seemed that everyone else had changed already. _I had better change quickly, then,_ he thought, setting down his tennis bag on the floor and pulling out his uniform. Taking off his school uniform, he pulled on the uniform and then took out his tennis racket. Sliding his tennis bag into an empty cubby, he padded outside.

"Fuji Syusuke is here!" he reported to the coach. The coach nodded, and Fuji checked the bulletin board to see his schedule. _Nakamura Katsuo… so he's my first opponent._ His smile widened. _Right! Fuji Syusuke, it's time to have some fun!_

His train of thought was halted by a haughty voice. "You're the freshman I'm going to be up against?" Fuji turned to see a brown haired boy standing behind him. Steel gray eyes bore into his smiling eyes. "You don't seem like much, do you? Look at you; a good tennis player has well-developed muscles, but you don't seem to have much. I wonder how you can hit a powerful shot."

Fuji's smile dropped, and he frowned. "If this is psychological warfare you're trying to use, than I'm afraid that it's not working. You should save saying those things for after the match."

Nakamura smirked, looking very amused to say the least. "If you say so," he said smoothly, giving a vague wave of his hand to Fuji. "Since you're a freshman, I suppose I should go easy on you."

"Is something the matter?"

Both boys turned to see Asa and Miho standing just a short ways away from them, looking worried. It was rare that Fuji looked so annoyed, and when Asa pointed this out to her friend she had been hastily dragged to the scene. And all she had originally wanted to do was ask if Fuji usually frowned like that during ranking matches… "Ah, Aa-chan!" Fuji said brightly, offering the girl a wave. "We're fine; just waging a bit of psychological warfare."

Asa looked faintly bemused at this, and a tad bit relieved. She was glad that it wasn't anything too serious. "I thought you said that you were going to be serious only for the Nationals."

Fuji laughed good-naturedly. "It's nice to be serious when you find a good rival."

_Oh… so that's it…_ "Well, in that case, good luck to you both!" she said cheerfully, chancing a look at the older boy, although she wished almost immediately that she hadn't done so. He was almost glaring at her, his gaze piercing. On impulse, she inched behind Fuji, using the taller boy to shield her smaller build. Fuji looked momentarily puzzled before smiling cheerfully, giving her hand a gentle squeeze and then walked into the courts.

"Let's begin."

* * *

A/N: This took forever... (T.T) I need to make my life more efficient. *sighs*

Read and Review? Please?


	5. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

Fuji padded over to his side of the court, looking thoughtfully over his racket, playing idly with the strings as he listened to the birds chirping in the sakura trees that surrounded the courts. It was such a nice day… he would have to set some time aside later on that evening and pop over to St. Rudolph's by bus and drag Yuuta out of his dorm rooms to have some fun with him. Maybe ice cream, perhaps? Yuuta had always been partial to strawberry ice cream when he was little.

Shifting his thoughts from his little brother to his current situation, beating Nakamura, he reflected on what Inui had told him in class:

_'Matches are still generally going to be the best of one set—'_

_'Why generally, Inui?'_

_'I've heard that they're planning_ _on changing it into best of three sets, Fuji. When I say generally, I'm going to be assuming that for the ranking matches and for the Kanto Prefectures it's going to be best of one, but for the semi-finals, finals, and nationals it will be best of three. At least, that is what I have deduced after combining my own existing data with new data that I have obtained from the senpai-tachi.'_

_'Saa… Inui was very busy these first few days, wasn't he?'_

_'It is important to gather as much data as possible, that's all.'_

_'Ah… naruhodo…'_

_'Also, Fuji, I regret to inform you that I have not been able to gather any data on any of our possible upperclassmen opponents. All I've managed to gather was that last year's regulars made sweeping victories in all of the ranking matches that were held. Don't expect it to easy, and don't rely solely on your talents like you have previously done before. Do some planning beforehand, will you?'_

Fuji chuckled dryly. _Saa… Inui… you should know by now that planning ahead in a match isn't what I do best,_ he thought, turning his face to the sky. Two doves flew above his head, and his eyes opened as he watched their path of flight, the clear blue of those luscious orbs enough to put any respectable sapphire to shame. After flying a while together, the two doves separated, one flying back to where they had come from, and the other pushing onwards. _Those birds…_

Unbidden, his mind brought him back to his match with Tezuka the year before. _You are the one who still goes forward, ne, Tezuka? And I? I have decided to go back. Is that right?_

He paused, watching the dove fly back and then stop, hovering in midair for a few moments furiously flapping its wings. As he waited, he saw the animal turn and fly back in its original direction until it was out of his sight. Somehow, Fuji knew that it never reached its companion's side again, no matter how hard it flew. _You never cease to amaze me, Tezuka. As I stand here on the courts, I really want to play again with you. Will you let me catch up to you? Or are you going to let me keep trying, like you usually do? And who is going to be behind all this time, watching me try, I wonder? It gets lonely when you try to do something by yourself, ne?_

His eyes shifted to Asa and Miho standing to the side. Inui had joined them, and the three were talking quite seriously about some topic or another, most likely tennis related. As if reading his thoughts, Asa turned to meet his gaze, offering a smile and a faint wave, and a tiny smile spread across Fuji's face. _Aa-chan, watch me. I **will** catch up to Tezuka._

_I will._

***

"Fuji-kun looks very serious," Asa murmured softly. Inui and Miho turned to look at her in puzzlement, before turning to Fuji. The boy stood with his back to them, checking the tension of his strings one last time before he would start playing his match. All they saw was the wispy strands of the brown hair on his head. "Did you see those two doves flying above us just a few minutes ago? I think seeing those two creatures made him decide to give the ranking matches everything he's got."

Miho looked thoroughly puzzled at this moment. "What are you talking about, Asa-chan? How do doves have anything to do with being serious about tennis?" she asked, furrowing her brows.

Asa smiled softly, a soft twitch of the corners of her mouth upwards. "Remember last year, during the tournament that decided who would go on to Nationals as the regulars? Regrettably, I couldn't make it, but I heard that Fuji-kun's match with Tezuka-kun was extraordinary." She didn't look at either Inui or Miho, or any of the other old Seigaku regulars who had walked up to join them. "He lost, didn't he?" she asked softly, more to herself than to the rest of them.

"Asa-chan, that's stating the overly obvious. That was the hot gossip of school for the next two days!"

"I know, I know… but those two doves symbolized Tezuka-kun and Fuji-kun very well. The dove that kept flying forward on a straight path was Tezuka-kun. To Tezuka-kun, tennis was always his top priority, right? Therefore he will take his tennis and perfect it in order for him to move onwards. The one that went back and then tried desperately to catch up with its flight partner was Fuji-kun. Similarly, Fuji-kun never takes tennis seriously and so is more prone to straying away from Tezuka's set path."

Oishi frowned thoughtfully. "But it's good to be unique, isn't it? Fuji could blaze his own trail. He certainly has enough spunk to do it, that's for sure."

"Yes, he could. But instead he chooses to chase after Tezuka. Why? Because Fuji-kun likes challenges. It wouldn't be much of a challenge for him to make his own path." Suddenly, Asa grinned cheerfully. "Or perhaps maybe it's because he wants to be able to say to Tezuka-kun one day: 'I beat you.'"

Eiji nodded, tucking his hands behind his head. "That makes sense. Ever since our first year together in Seigaku, Fuji always looked up to Tezuka. Tezuka was Fuji's best friend and greatest rival. And no doubt with Fuji's personality, to be able to tease Tezuka with the fact that he beat him will be a great victory, nya!"

"Ii data…" muttered Inui, hastily scribbling away in his notebook (he had picked a brand new one just for the occasion of a new school year, so had many, many gloriously blank pages to write on) about this new Fuji information. As a side note, he added:

'Kikumaru Eiji is more capable of being mature now that he has entered high school. Will monitor carefully to see if it is a fluke or not, or if it is simply with certain subjects (ex: Fuji).'

"Nya, Inui! What are you writing? Are you gathering information on Fujiko? Or other people we know? I wanna see, I wanna see!"

Turning away from the bouncing redhead, the data master continued to scribble down notes:

'It is a fluke. No need for further investigation.'

Miho and Oishi hurried to try to stop their bouncing friend from bothering Inui (it had long been discovered that it one annoyed Inui enough, they would be found unconscious the next day with a glass of Inui Juice as their cause of misery. It looked like Eiji forgot about that…) while Asa turned back to face the court and Fuji. Fuji turned to her, and she gave a slight inclination of her head and a cheery little wave.

_If you want something, you need to put 100% behind it, don't you agree, Fuji-kun? If you do, I'm sure you'll catch up to Tezuka-kun._

_I'm sure you will._

_I **know** you will. And I'll be here watching you._

***

"Game, Fuji! Three games to two!"

A collective sigh of relief came from the onlookers. "Fujiko's catching up, nya!" Eiji said happily, clapping his hands. "This is so exciting, nya! Fujiko actually looks serious! I want to play against him now; it's not fair that that sempai gets to."

Miho and Oishi hurried to shush him, since they were beginning another game and it was important to be quiet for the players to concentrate. "Shush, Eiji!" Miho squeaked, covering his mouth with one hand. He shushed immediately, along with a faint reddening of his cheeks.

Conveniently (or not so, depending on who one asked), Miho missed this.

Asa glanced over to her side to see Inui scribbling madly into his notebook. Was there really that much stuff to write about a tennis match? But since it was Inui, she supposed that it was normal… to some degree. "What do you think, Inui-kun? About this match, that is."

Inui looked up briefly from his book before returning to his furious scribblings. "In terms of physical build, both Nakamura and Fuji are evenly matched, despite Nakamura's earlier remark upon Fuji having any visible muscle. Nakamura has more speed than Fuji, though, and that makes countering his shots easier." His pen's scratching slowed fractionally as he looked up, a frown on his face. "When playing against a player who's faster than you, it'll be important to make them use the entire court and tire them out. Precise control will be needed, and Fuji has an abundance of that. Observe how Fuji is aiming the ball at the extreme corners of the court, and then he sneaks in cord balls and drop shots to make him move abruptly to the front. It's an effective way to wear away the opponent's stamina as well as keep them on an edge."

Asa digested this all slowly, one finger placed on her chin as she adopted a thoughtful expression on her face. "So you're saying that technique is more important?" she finally asked.

"Not necessarily, but it must be employed more than against any other player," was Inui's response as he returned to his notebook.

Asa looked puzzled, and turned around when she heard Oishi chuckle. "Inui's explanations are a bit confusing, aren't they?" he asked, giving her a kind smile. "Let's just leave it at the fact that Fuji is an extraordinary tennis player. Does that make more sense?"

She grinned up at the boy. "Hai!"

***

The first ranking match ended an hour later. Fuji won, but only after a grueling tiebreaker. "Wahhh… such an exciting match!" Miho sighed, plopping down on a bench on the park when they had finally left school. "Aren't you glad you didn't have a shift at the shop today, Asa-chan?" she asked happily, glancing up at her friend.

"Now that you mention it, I suppose it was a good thing that the other people decided they wanted to work extra."

Miho grinned, and then waved to someone behind Asa, and so she turned around to see Fuji and Eiji walk up to her. "Congratulations, Fuji-kun!" the two girls chorused together.

Fuji smiled brightly as he accepted the words of congratulation. "Arigato," he thanked them, looking quite pleased with himself. "That was a lot harder than I thought, but it was fun," he said cheerfully, readjusting the strap of his tennis bag. "Do you guys mind going to the sweet shop? I feel like having something sweet."

Asa perked up, looking excited. "Let's go!" she said, seconding his offer. "There are so many new cakes I want you all to try!"

"Why do I get the feeling that Aa-chan wants to stuff them down our throats, nya?" Eiji whispered to Miho.

"Eiji!" Miho scolded him, although she then sighed. "I really don't think you'd mind that, though, would you?"

"Nope! Cake is good, nya!"

"Eiji-kun is always so energetic… I'm jealous," Asa said happily when they left the park, Eiji still chattering happily to Miho about cakes. The shop wasn't too far from the park, so they were there in a matter of minutes. "Konichiwa!" Asa chirped up as she opened the door and stepped into the cozy little shop's interior.

One of the waitresses looked up in surprise before her face creased into a smile. "Ijuuin-chan! Don't tell me that you like working here so much that you pop up even when you don't have a shift!" she teased.

Asa grinned back in response. "What? Can't I invite friends over to have cake?" she asked, all the while, tugging at her friends' sleeves to show them the cakes she wanted them to try. "This way, this way! You need to try this; it's very good!"

"The way you're talking about it, I'm sure it's delicious, Aa-chan," Fuji chuckled, watching with a bemused expression on his face as she picked out several cakes for them. "They certainly look good, though!" he said as he accepted a plate and padded over to a table, closely followed by Eiji and Miho.

They had scarcely started to eat when the door opened with a tinkling of bells and two familiar figures made themselves known in Fuji's field of vision. "Ah…Nakamura-sempai…" Fuji said, looking up at the boy. "And you are Sato-chan, am I correct?" he asked the girl standing besides him.

"Yep! I'm Katsuo's cousin, Sato Aimi!"

They exchanged their introductions and then Asa tipped her head to one side, looking puzzled. "Nakamura-sempai, what brings you here today?" she asked curiously.

Nakamura smiled cheerfully, causing Asa to blink in surprise. _That's so weird… just a little more than an hour ago he was glaring at me as if I was his sworn enemy… _"Ijuuin-chan, wasn't it?" he asked. She nodded, looking puzzled. "Did your parents tell you about it yet?"

"It?" she echoed stupidly.

"I take that as a no? It's a pity then, I'm not all that good at giving out big news."

"Big news?" Miho asked.

Aimi grinned, looking cheerful. "Yep! Big news indeed!"

By this time, they were all surrounded by an abundance of question marks. What on earth were they talking about? _I feel like this is something I should about, but I'm totally clueless as to what,_ Asa mused to herself.

"Hmm… how do I put this? My parents have arranged an omiai with yours between us." He said this all very frankly, a serious and contemplative expression on his face. "I'm surprised that you're in the dark on such a big event."

There were a few minutes of stunned silence, and then, "I didn't think they still had arranged marriages nowadays," Miho said in a hushed voice, looking a bit perturbed as she glanced at Fuji. "It's startling, to say the least."

"It's not common but it's there nonetheless," Fuji sighed, looking quite disturbed himself as he rested his elbows on the table, intertwining his fingers together and then resting his chin on them. "So… does that mean you're Aa-chan's fiancé?" He was taking this whole thing with such an air of false calmness that Eiji suddenly wanted to punch his honey-haired friend.

Nakamura gave him a pitying glance. "Nothing's been decided _yet_," he said, placing emphasis on the word 'yet'. "The details need to be ironed out. If you would, Ijuuin-chan, our families are going to hold a meeting of sorts tonight at my house, dinner included. We should go now; it's not good to fill yourself on sweets before dinner." And then he was dragging her out the door, leaving Eiji, Miho, Fuji, and Aimi to look after him as he went down the street.

"I'm sorry about my cousin's rudeness," Aimi apologized, talking to Miho since Eiji was busy berating Fuji on his reaction. "He's taking this a bit too seriously. I mean, Ijuuin-chan is a really nice person from what I could see the last time I met her and I'd love to have her in the family, but in the end I suppose it'll all be Ijuuin-chan's decision."

"Eh? You mean there's going to be some lee-way in this whole omiai business?" Miho asked, surprised.

Aimi shrugged. "Something like that. I don't know much about it either." She glanced at her wristwatch before giving a small wave. "Well, I have to go now. Later!" And then she was gone.

Miho turned to Fuji and Eiji. "Ne, ne, did you hear that? There might be some loophole in this whole thing! Asa-chan doesn't have to get engaged yet!"

Fuji forced his usual smile onto his face. "Oh, is that so?" He stood, gathering his things together. "It's getting late and I have quite a bit of homework to do. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Opening the door, he stepped outside, shouldering his tennis bag as he headed for the bus stop. He looked painfully lost.

"And I was so excited that this year was going to be super fun, nya…" Eiji sighed. "We should go home, too, Miho. I'll walk you."

"Ah… yeah…"

Sitting on the top of a lamppost was a solitary dove, its feathers mottled with dirt so that it was no long its pure white color. It tipped its head to the sky and let out a mournful keening cry, repeating it over and over, being heard by no one, and yet being seen by all.

* * *

A/N: Ah... yeah... slightly weird. Sorry 'bout that. But it didn't turn out to be that bad, and I'm happy.

Omiai is a Japanese custom where unattached individuals meet in order to arrange a possible marriage. Note, possible

Read and Review, please? Thank you!


	6. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5_**

Asa sometimes wondered about her parents. Sometimes they were the loving, normal parents that anyone would expect a child to have, and yet other times she swore they were possessed by some sort of demon. _I remember when they used to get all starry-eyed whenever I was simply talking to Fuji-kun on the phone. And thinking of Fuji-kun…_

He had looked so shaken, although he had tried to appear calm. She felt terrible for leaving him like that. _Fuji-kun… I'll explain everything to you, just as soon as I know all the details. _It was terrible to leave a friend in the dark.

_I promise. Wait for me, please…_

"It's a… pleasure to meet you. I am Ijuuin Asa."

Nakamura's parents (or, uh... just parent, as only one was currently present) looked kind enough, she supposed. His mother had her black hair tied up into a bun and was wearing a pretty yukata. Her face had a kind and homely smile on it and she greeted her warmly as Nakamura pulled her into the sitting room. "Welcome to our home, Ijuuin-chan," she said sweetly as the girl bowed.

_I feel awkward, standing in front of such a esteemed-looking lady in only my school uniform. I suddenly can't wait for the Tanabata Festival in which I get to where my new kimono. I hate it when I outgrow clothes… even if I haven't grown any taller…_

"Ijuuin-chan? Is something wrong?"

"Eh? Oh, nothing, nothing! I just spaced out for a bit… gomen." _For shame, Asa, for shame… now is not the time to act like an idiot._

Nakamura's mother chuckled quietly. "It's alright, Ijuuin-chan. Please, sit down; don't stand there. Some tea will be brought over shortly." True to her word, in a few moments a servant had brought a tray laden with fancy teacups and a fragrant tea. "It's only green tea, nothing special. Is that alright with you, Ijuuin-chan?" she asked as she accepted a cup from the servant.

"Ah… hai…" _Maybe I shouldn't mention that the only high-quality tea that I've ever had was Ceylon tea at Atobe-kun's high tea that day before the school year began,_ she thought to herself, taking a cup and sipping it. _Even this green tea is a higher quality than what we have at home. Guess this is how the rich live. Their simple can easily be my luxurious. _She heaved a sigh of dejection.

Nakamura smiled cheerfully as he sipped his own tea. "Okaa-sama, you're making Ijuuin-chan nervous. She's a really shy girl."

_What on earth is sempai saying?_ "Nakamura-san, I heard that my parents would be here to discuss this omiai business?" she asked, lowering her teacup so that she could look at the lady, in an attempt to bring the topic of conversation to a point where she could begin to shed some light on her current problem. "I had no prior knowledge of this event being held, so to say the least, I was rather surprised."

Here, she looked shocked. "Oh! I did not know! My most sincere apologies, Ijuuin-chan." She set down her teacup and dusted some non-existing dust from the sleeve of her yukata. "We will make a special note to fill you in on everything during dinner. Katsuo, won't you please show Ijuuin-chan around the garden until dinnertime?"

Nakamura stood, setting down his cup as well. "I would be honored, Okaa-sama."

And so Asa found herself being dragged off to see the gardens, being no more enlightened than she had been half an hour ago at the sweet shop. Nakamura's mother certainly was good at dodging questions.

_I want to go home!_ she wailed to herself as she was ushered along.

***

Yumiko looked quizzically at her brother as she cooked dinner. He was sitting with his elbows on the table, staring off into space with an unreadable expression on his face. She sighed softly to herself; what was eating away at her adorable little brother? It had been so long since she had seen him like that, and it was beginning to worry her.

"Syusuke, why don't you help with dinner?" Yumiko asked cheerfully. "Today Yuuta is coming home for dinner and to stay for a few days. Kaa-san said that she would pick him up from St. Rudolph after work. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah. It's great that Yuuta can come home to eat. I suppose you're baking raspberry pie, then, Nee-san?"

"Of course, Syusuke. You know how he always smiles when he eats my raspberry pie!" Yumiko returned her attention to her pot while Fuji took out a knife to slice some tomatoes for a salad. "It's a pity I can't quite make Kaa-san's pumpkin curry, otherwise it would have been the perfect feast for Yuuta. Guess he'll have to make due with my stew." Fuji chuckled softly as he sliced the round vegetables.

"Tadaima!" Yuuta and his mother were home, with Yuuta mentally bracing himself for the hug that he was sure to come. When it didn't happen, he blinked in surprise. No Aniki to pester him the moment he set foot into his home was certainly… strange. It was nice but… strange.

Very strange.

Yuuta wasn't quite sure he was extremely happy with this new predicament, now that he gave it some thought.

"Oi, Aniki, is something wrong?" he asked, throwing his overnight bag down onto the sofa in the living room and then plopping himself onto the chair his brother had previously had been sitting in. "You're not acting like your usual annoying self."

Normally, remarks like these didn't do so much as leave a scratch in his older brother's perfect complexion, but this time, he stiffened, stopping in mid-slice of his tomato. Puzzled, Yuuta sat up straighter, staring at him curiously with his dark gray eyes. "Ah… is that so, Yuuta?" Fuji asked absentmindedly, beginning to slice his tomatoes once again. "And isn't that good? Don't you hate my usual annoying self?"

Yuuta was silent, thoroughly puzzled. Yes, something was bothering his Aniki that evening. He wondered what it was. If it was some guy at Aniki's new school, Yuuta would have to make a personal trip over their and beat him up. Despite what everyone said, bullies could only be dealt with the old fashioned way: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

"She… probably hates it, too, despite whatever she says."

"Aniki, you're making no sense at all. Are you sure you're not sick?" The last time Fuji had been talking in a strange way was the last time he had had a fever.

It had not been pleasant on Yuuta's part, for the boy had had to stay home and take care of his older brother. It had especially not been pleasant when Fuji had decided to hold a conversation with him, _while he was delirious_, and while he was still _half-asleep_.

If Yuuta wasn't the kind brother he was, he would have tape-recorded the entire conversation and then sold it to his brother's fangirls for a hefty sum. _That_ would have solved all his financial problems until the time he graduated from high school.

Fuji chuckled dryly as he dumped the sliced tomatoes onto the salad and brought the salad bowl to the table. "Nope… at least not that kind of sick." Yuuta blinked, and then deciding that he was going to get no sense out of his older brother, turned to the table and promptly stole a slice of tomato, popping it into his mouth and chewing grumpily.

Hey, he had tried.

"Saa, saa, let's eat," Yoshiko said, setting out bowls and silverware. "Syusuke will speak when he wants to, and not a moment before then. Now, come… Yuuta, stop frowning, dear, you'll get permanent wrinkles on your face. Yumiko, this stew looks delicious!" Cheered by their mother's happy talking, the three Fuji's dug happily into their meal.

"Syusuke, Yuuta, eat more salad! Vegetables are good for you!"

"They're yucky, Nee-san, Kaa-san…"

"Don't complain, Yuu-ta! Eating your veggies will allow you to grow big and tall and strong!"

"Aniki… I'm already taller than you, you do realize?"

"Oh, really? You need to come home more often so that I can know these things!"

"And I wonder why I never want to come home…"

"Mou… don't say that! Your dear Aniki is hurt!"

"Shut up."

***

Kurumi and Narumi had never seen such a formal dinner before. They sat in their chairs, watching everything with wide eyes and trying to appear totally at ease with it all.

Trying doesn't necessarily mean succeeding, one must remember.

The adults were maintaining a delightfully engaging conversation (How are your days going? Oh, lovely, how about yours?) and the children were left to munch away on their dinners in silence. Nakamura, as any polite host should do, make appropriate small-talk throughout the duration of the meal, and was likewise answered politely by each girl as long as she was the one addressed. After dinner, the Nakamura's were thanked, again very politely, for the meal and they all retreated to one of the drawing rooms in the spacious house.

"So, then, let us get down to business," Nakamura's father said presently, making himself comfortable on an overstuffed armchair. A servant appeared from seemingly nowhere and set down a tray of tea. "Omiai's are rare nowadays, but among the higher members of society it is still quite a common thing." The way he said 'common' and 'higher members of society' made Asa stiffen, and had she been Seika, she probably would have bristled and hissed. Clawing probably wouldn't have been out of the question, either, since it _was_ her kitten being considered.

It was then and there that Asa decided that she quite disliked Nakamura's father, despite all the lectures about how she was not supposed to judge someone before she got to know them.

Nakamura's mother must have sensed her rays of intense dislike, because she smiled softly. "Of course, even though we call this an arranged marriage, there is no point to a marriage nowadays if the two parties don't feel anything for each other. That is our main point today." Asa's parents nodded seriously while Kurumi and Narumi busied themselves with tea. "After a careful discussion, we've decided that if, by the end of the school year, that Katsuo means no more to you than a friend, then the omiai will be called off. However, if not, then the omiai will proceed when you graduate high school."

"Eh? Then what about college?" was the first thing that popped out of Asa's mouth. Mentally, she berated herself.

"Of course you can still go to college!" Nakamura's mother said. "But that'll be after the wedding."

_Wedding… oh, Kami-sama… they're not joking…_ Some part of her had been holding on to the naïve hope that they were and this was a post April-Fool's joke. "A year is a long time," she said softly, staring down at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap.

"If you're going to be spending a lifetime with a man, you've got to spend some time to know them," Nakamura's father said gruffly. She twitched in annoyance at the very sound of his gruff voice. "That is all. If you have any questions as the year progresses, feel free to ask. Oh, and one more thing."

She looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"You will no longer be walking to school like a commoner. Our personal limousine will pick you up every morning and send you back home when school is over."

She could feel her jaw hit the floor. What was this?! Wasn't thrusting her into this whole situation bad enough? And now she couldn't even walk to school with her friends? She glanced helplessly at her parents, who simply shrugged apologetically. _Oh, I see,_ she thought drily.

"I see. Thank you for feeling the need to fill me in on this," she said icily, standing up. "I'll leave now; I have a lot of homework that needs to be done. Please excuse me."

"Wait… aren't you going to go home with us?" her father asked, startled. Her answer was to simply walk out of the sitting room, down the hall, out the front door and out into the street, thanking the butler in the process when he produced her schoolbag for her.

It was cold outside, and dusk had already fallen. Sighing, she marched down the long drive and headed for the park. Forget home or homework. She wanted to think. Or cry. She wasn't quite sure which one came first.

"Ijuuin? Ore-sama demands to know why you happen to be in this part of the neighborhood at this time of day!"

She stopped, surprise etched out onto her face, and then pivoted to come face to face with none other than Atobe Keigo. "Oh… Atobe-kun…" she said lamely.

Atobe didn't need his Insight to know something was wrong. At any other time in his life, he would have asked himself why he began to worry at the sight of her affliction, but now he just reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Let's go," he said shortly, and then proceeded to drag her down the street. Perhaps it was because Oshitari, the person he trusted most on his tennis team, had once expressed an interest in teasing her (and Oshitari only teased those who were extraordinary in some way, shape, or form, so Atobe figured that she couldn't be that bad to spend some time with.). Or perhaps it was simply because Atobe wasn't as much as a rich jerk as everyone else thought he was. Whatever the reason was, he tightened his grip as he pulled the girl down the sidewalk and made his way to a coffee shop.

Pushing the door open with his free hand, he stepped inside, still holding onto her wrist. Finding a table, he dragged her over there and sat her down before sitting himself down directly opposite of her. "You need to talk," he said, very frankly, when she looked at him in puzzlement.

He smirked. "What? Did you think Ore-sama always cares about himself? Ore-sama is important, granted, but so are Ore-sama's friends."

No amount of upbringing or Insight or anything else could have prepared him for what happened next:

Sitting opposite of Atobe, in a coffee shop in Tokyo that she had never been to before, Ijuuin Asa burst into tears.

* * *

A/N: Muahaha... I'm cruel, aren't I? I did like the Yuuta-Fuji exchange though. Yuuta tries oh-so-very hard. =)

I've lately developed a severe liking for everyone from Hyotei, even Gakuto (he used to drive me insane), and not just Oshitari. So Sugar Sweet will have a lot of Hyotei in it. Did I mention that already? I can't remember... my memory is failing. *sighs*

Please, read and review! Thank you!


	7. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6_**

There are many reasons that Atobe did not particularly like girls. Firstly, they're frightening obsession with cute things revolted him. Secondly, the way they gained up in packs on poor tennis players and got hearts in their eyes frightened him (although he would never show it). And of course, Atobe did not particularly like girls because of their tendency to cry.

He was in no way implying that all girls were crybabies, but he was simply pointing out that the chances of a girl crying were much higher than a guy crying.

And, as much as he didn't like to admit it, when a girl cried, Atobe was at a loss of what to do.

So it was no different when Asa started crying. He just sat there, looking puzzled in all of his glorious self, before he signaled to a waitress. She gave him a dirty look (no doubt because she thought _he_ had made her cry, much to Atobe's amusement. He only made girls speechless, never crying) and handed over a box of tissues.

"You'll get stains on your face if you don't wipe your tears," he said imperiously, although the concern was evident under the usual edge of his voice, as he pushed the tissues over to her. She accepted a tissue and huddled into her seat, trying to make herself appear as small as possible.

Atobe ordered a latté and a regular coffee, requesting extra cream on it. When his orders came, he pushed the latté over to the girl and sipped his own coffee. "Drink it. Something hot might stop you from crying. I heard warm, sweet things do wonders to cheer up a girl."

"I-is that so…?" _He didn't call himself 'Ore-sama,'_ she noted quietly as she picked up her cup and sipping the hot liquid. He was right, more or less. By the time she had finished half of the cup she was feeling much better.

"Ano… Atobe-kun… do you want to listen?" she asked hesitantly. A raised eyebrow was all that she got to tell her that he was listening, and then she was pouring everything out. It was like a waterfall of words coming out of her mouth, and she could not, did not, do anything to stop it. When she was done, Atobe was quiet for a few minutes as he drained the rest of his coffee.

"You should stay over at my place tonight," he said shortly, setting down his empty cup on the table. "It'll be quieter than your own house, so you can get some peace of mind while you think. I'm sure the maids will find something for you to wear the night, and you can have one of the spare rooms." When she opened her mouth to protest, he held up a hand, effectively silencing her. "I'll take you to school tomorrow, so you don't have to worry about walking the extra distance." He rested his chin on his hands and looked at her. "It's a good plan, no?" he asked, but there was no flair of arrogance in his voice at all, just genuine kindness.

_Deep down, Atobe-kun really is a nice person._ "Hai… I'll take you up on your offer, then, Atobe-kun."

"Good." Atobe stood, motioning again for the waitress, and then proceeded to pay the bill. "I'm treating," he grunted, and then herded her out of the door.

"Oh, uh… Atobe-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"What were you doing out in the park so late at night?"

There was a few seconds of silence from the silver-haired diva, and then he said in a soft voice, "I was thinking." There was a far-off look in his eyes and he seemed distracted, but whether or not Asa noticed this, she didn't comment.

"Ah… naruhodo…"

And then they elapsed into a comfortable silence as they continued walking.

***

True to Atobe's word, the maids were able to find something for her to wear that night after she had been given a room. At first sight, her jaw nearly hit the floor, but she managed to stop that from happening, so she simply stared around in awe. Thick plush carpets covered the floor, and the walls were covered with a pretty wallpaper of light blue. The room was generously furnished with elegant furniture and a four-poster bed, and a beautiful set of French doors opened up onto a balcony.

"Does this suit you?" Atobe asked, coming up behind her as the maid finished pointing out all the light switches and other various features of the room.

"This looks like a hotel room from a five star hotel!" was Asa's answer, which meant, yes, this indeed suited her, even if it was much better than she had expected. Turning to Atobe, she gave the taller boy a bow. "Thank you so much for letting me stay overnight," she said, and he just smirked in response.

"Gather your wits about you and get back to fight another day," he said, ruffling her hair with one hand, which surprised her. "Don't forget to call your parents. If you need anything, just ask Madison-san." He gestured to the maid, who gave a polite nod of her head.

Asa thanked him again and then turned to the desk. It was late and she hadn't even started her homework yet. Thankfully, all she had to do was math, and that wasn't too difficult (they were still reviewing; it would get harder as the year progressed).

The maid, Madison, shut the curtains to the French doors and turned to Asa, regarding the girl curiously. Her employer rarely brought home a guest, especially a guest of the opposite gender. "If there's nothing you need, I'll leave you alone now," she offered, and received a nod in response. Madison exited quietly and padded away down the hall.

Asa was done with her homework in the next half hour, in which she threw down her pen and gave a happy sigh. _I should take a shower and get to bed, she thought,_ staring ruefully at the desktop. _Oh… and call my parents. I haven't done that yet and I promised Atobe-kun I would._

"Moshimoshi! It's me," she said with as much cheerfulness as she could muster, and was instantly swamped with her parents' worried voices. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" she assured them. "I'm staying over at a friend's house. He'll give me a lift to school tomorrow." And then she hung up, but not without hearing her parents nearly scream 'HIM?!' into her ear. _I probably should have clarified that. Mou… too late, now. _And then she vanished into the bathroom.

The feel of hot water rushing down her body was a wonderful feeling. When she was done with her shower, she felt so much better than she had before. A folded garment was placed neatly next to the towel, so after she dried off she slipped it on. _It's pretty,_ she thought in awe_. And it's comfy too, although I will admit I miss my own pajamas._ Stretching her arms comfortably above her head, she climbed into bed, staring at the ceiling. For the next hour, she amused herself with finding patterns in the ceiling above her head before sleep finally claimed her.

***

Atobe picked up the phone that was next to the couch where he had situated himself and dialed a number, listening with an almost impatient air about him as it rang once, twice, thrice, and then was finally picked up.

"Moshimoshi?" came a woman's voice. _It must be his mother or older sister,_ he thought. He remembered hearing something about his family members at some time.

"I'd like to talk to Fuji. Fuji Syusuke," he said.

"Ah… and you are…?"

"A classmate."

"Oh. Wait a few moments, please. I'll go get him." There was the faint sound of footsteps, and then, 'Syusuke! A friend is calling… he wants to talk you!' A moment of pause ensued, and then she spoke again. 'No, Syusuke, you can't blow it off. It's rude not to answer a friend's call.'

Atobe raised one fine eyebrow as he listed quietly, and when Fuji answered the phone he remained quiet, waiting for the other to initiate the conversation.

"Moshimoshi. This is Fuji Syusuke; can I ask who is calling?"

"Ore-sama demands that you come over to Ore-sama's place tomorrow morning before school."

"Huh? Atobe… what on earth are you saying?"

"Just be here." And then he clicked the phone shut, leaning back so that he could recline comfortably against the sofa, staring in front of him, looking thoughtful.

"Saki-san," he called out, referring to his butler. The old man appeared at his side, bowing politely. "Find me data on Nakamura Katsuo. Make it as thorough as possible."

"Of course, young master."

"Have it in preferably before school tomorrow, but don't work yourself too hard. We have time on our hands to play with the current situation."

"As you say."

***

The next morning, Fuji was forcibly shoved out of his house a half hour earlier than the time he normally left home by his mother and sister. "Better hurry along, Syusuke!" Yumiko called from the kitchen to her little brother. "It won't do to be late."

"I know, I know," Fuji called over his shoulder as he trotted out the door. _I wonder what Atobe wants from me, _he thought as he boarded the bus at the end of his street. _Whatever it is, I hope he has breakfast. I'm hungry._ _Even a cup of tea would be alright…_

He rang the doorbell and was admitted into the Atobe mansion shortly afterwards by the ever trusty butler. "This way," the man said, bowing. "Young master Keigo is waiting for you." And so Fuji was led to the sitting room, looking mildly puzzled as he was ushered along.

As it turned out, not only was Atobe waiting for him, so was Tezuka. The tensai raised an eyebrow in surprise when he saw his former caption sitting on the sofa next to Atobe, holding a teacup and sipping calmly from it. "Tezuka…" he murmured, standing there feeling more puzzled then ever. "Maa… I didn't know you often came over to Atobe's often." _Although, now that I think of it, Tezuka was the only one who looked comfortable the last time we were at Atobe's._

"I come over occasionally," Tezuka said, setting down his cup. "Would you like something?" he asked, and Fuji's stomach gave a little grumble.

"Ah… now that you mention it… anything edible would be nice," Fuji admitted sheepishly. "A hungry man eats anything, they say."

It was Atobe's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You left without eating breakfast?" he asked, frowning. "That won't do; that won't do," he mumbled to himself.

"Huh?"

"Whatever," Atobe huffed, and then gestured regally to the breakfast set on the table in front of the sofa. "Help yourself." Fuji needed no second invitation and helped himself quite happily to a cup of tea, blowing gently on the steaming liquid and then sipping. A satisfied look crossed his face as the warm tea made its way down his throat and into his stomach.

There was suddenly a knock on the door and a soft voice drifted in. "A-ano… Atobe-kun… thank you very much for letting me stay the night." Fuji's teacup nearly fell out of his hands as he turned around to face the owner of the voice. She looked back at him, looking equally surprised, before forcing a smile on her face. "Ohayo, Fuji-kun," she offered, before turning her attention to Tezuka and Atobe. "Ohayo, Atobe-kun, Tezuka-kun," she said.

"Ohayo," they said dutifully back at her (Atobe included), and Fuji marveled at how there seemed to be devoid amount of arrogance in Atobe's voice. Miracles _did _happen.

"Ore-sama's mansion has wonderful rooms, does it not?"

OK… so maybe that was a bit too far-fetched of an idea that involved combining miracles with Atobe.

"Ah… hai! It was a really nice room!" Asa replied, and then looked curiously at the three boys. "Tezuka-kun, Fuji-kun… what are you guys doing here?"

"Concocting war plans," was Tezuka's very serious answer, which made both Fuji and Asa blink in surprise.

"W-war plans…?" Asa squeaked out.

"Yes, war plans," Atobe said, sipping his tea. "Oh… look at the time!" he said, staring up at the ornate grandfather clock. "Fuji, Ore-sama decrees that you walk Ijuuin to school today."

Fuji would have spat out his mouthful of tea had he not managed to stop himself in the nick of time. "You want me to what…?" he asked, incredulous, feeling his cheeks beginning to warm up against his efforts to stop them.

Atobe looked at him. "You heard Ore-sama. Now, out you go. Shoo, shoo." When the two of them had been successfully escorted out of his house, Atobe turned to Tezuka. There was an unnatural gleam in his blue-gray eyes that made Tezuka wonder what the diva had up his sleeve.

"Now… about those war plans…"

Ah… yes. How could Tezuka forget about that?

***

"Ne, Fuji-kun… it seems like it's been a while since we last walked to school together, doesn't it?"

Fuji blinked, pulling himself forcibly out of his musings and turning his head so that he could look at the girl walking next to him. He was met with a cheerfully smiling face and felt his cheeks warm up again. "Ah… now that you mention it, it _does_ seem that way," he offered cheerfully, his usual smile widening slightly. "Will we still be able to walk to school together… you know… after _that_?" he asked, uncharacteristically shy.

Asa lowered her head and stared at the ground under her feet as she walked along. "I… don't know," she answered truthfully.

_"You will no longer be walking to school like a commoner. Our personal limousine will pick you up every morning and send you back home when school is over."_

"Is that so…?" Fuji asked, drooping slightly. "I see…" He looked so dejected, Asa felt terrible.

"Gomen, Fuji-kun," she said, reaching out and taking his hand on impulse. He stiffened considerably and she dropped it in a hurry, cringing backwards. "Gomen, gomen!" she squeaked.

"Iie… it's fine," Fuji said. "Could you… would you mind… doing that again?"

"Eh? What again?"

He reached out and took her hand, reveling in the feeling of her smaller one in his. "This," he said softly, holding her hand gently as they continued along.

Her hand shifted in his grip, and he loosened it, drooping again inside. "What's wrong?" Asa asked. "I'm only trying to get a better grip, silly." He looked puzzled, and she squeezed his hand. "See? It's better this way," she said cheerfully, turning her face back to the road in front of her.

She suddenly broke out running, tugging Fuji after her. "Wha~~!" he yelped as he was dragged along. "What are you doing?"

"If we don't hurry, we'll be late for school!" Asa replied as she ran along. Suddenly, she pumped an arm up into the air. "Yosh! Always being sad and mopey takes up too much energy!"

"Huh?"

"Maa… life's no fun if you don't focus on the good things! That's why; I'm going to try my hardest to focus on the good things that come to me!"

"Well… I suppose that's a good resolution to make…"

She turned to him and offered a radiant smile. "Hai!"

Fuji's face broke out into a happy grin as he broke out into a run. "Race?" he asked. She nodded enthusiastically, and they took off like twin rockets, although Fuji never relinquished his hold on her hand the whole time. When Asa thought back to this event later, she would always wonder what kind of race it really was, but for now, she was content. Very content. _If I worry too much, I'd worry everyone else, wouldn't I?_ she thought as she ran. She began to drop slightly behind Fuji, but the boy kept urging her forward, encouraging her with his kind smiles, and she ran on, even though she was beginning to pant rather heavily. _And if everyone worries, I won't be able to see their smiles. Their real smiles... Atobe-kun's, Tezuka-kun's, Oishi-kun's... even Shishido-kun's._

_Granted, I haven't seen some of them yet, but I know that they're wonderful. Because everyone can have a wonderful smile when they want to. That's why... this year... when I try to focus on mainly the good things in life, I will see every one of my friends smile, and I will treasure it._

_Always. No matter what happens to me later on._

* * *

A/N: As usual, reviews are always loved. Please? If something's bad and no one reviews to tell me, how am I supposed to know what to fix? I'm not physic, you know (much as I wish I was, sometimes).


	8. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7_**

It was lunch period, and Nakamura was walking down the hall, his hands tucked into his pockets, whistling cheerfully to himself. He paused in surprise when the door to the classroom he was currently passing opened and someone bumped into him. "Ah… excuse me…" he murmured, turning towards the other, but stopping when he came face to face with Fuji. "Fuji-kun; konichiwa," he said lightly.

Fuji blinked, looking at Nakamura with his usual smile. "Konichiwa, Nakamura-sempai," he offered, looking slightly wary. "Are you going to lunch?"

"That would be what lunch period is, Fuji-kun," Nakamura said, giving his own smile. "Would you care to join me?" he asked. "We can ask Ijuuin-chan to join us."

"Eh? I thought that you two would automatically always eat together because of… _that_…"

"Maa, maa… can't bring yourself to say 'engaged'?" Nakamura teased. Fuji twitched, his hands clenching into fists. "It's not like that," Nakamura said with a wave of his hand. "I actually have to work, you know. If she doesn't like me by the end of the school year, the whole thing is called off." He paused in his walking to look back at his junior. "You like her, don't you? I can tell from your demeanor that you do. That means you see me as a rival, don't you?"

"A pesky rival that I can't get rid of," was Fuji's mumbled response. It did not miss Nakamura's sharp ears.

Nakamura chuckled lightly at this. He felt that he could relate to Fuji in a lot of ways. Even though he was branded as an unsophisticated person in the school, which had merely always been his guise, similar to those of Fuji's if his outside research proved to be sufficient. _I care for people, too, not just myself,_ he thought, starting again for the cafeteria. Fuji trotted behind him, still looking wary. _Otou-sama's principles are so annoying to follow sometimes. How on earth is one supposed to establish successful business links if no one likes them enough to do it? It makes no sense. Sometimes I wish I was like the majority of the world… and not the son of some rich snob. _He heaved a sigh, shoulders slumping. Life was too confusing and a pain to figure out sometimes. He envied those people who would spend years pondering the meaning of life. He would never have the patience or willpower to do it… that was for sure.

"What's for lunch, I wonder?" he asked, stopping in front of the cafeteria line, looking thoughtful. _Shall I wait in line today? If I do that, I won't have conscience issues later. _Of course, if his father heard that, he'd get more than conscience issues. _Such a dilemma…_

"Ne, ne, did you hear? They say Nakamura-sempai is getting engaged!" A trio of girls was gossiping not too far away from him and Fuji, and he tipped his head to the side as he listened and thought. It wasn't _exactly _eavesdropping, he told himself, since they were talking loud enough for more than half of the cafeteria to hear them.

"Hai, hai!" the second girl in the trio said. "I feel so sorry for the girl! I heard that Nakamura-sempai is impossible to deal with!" A round of agreeing murmurs could be heard throughout the cafeteria.

"Saa… rumors fly fast, don't they?" Fuji asked softly. "Are you really impossible to deal with, sempai?"

Nakamura shrugged. "Depends on you look at it. In reality, we're all the same, with no one being more unbearable than the other."

Sudden silence suddenly fell on the cafeteria, and both boys turned around in puzzlement. Asa stood in the doorway of the cafeteria, flanked by Miho and Eiji, the latter of which waved excitedly to Fuji when he caught sight of him. Fuji chuckled, waving back. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Asa said, stepping forward. The crowd parted into two, much to the boys' amusements. "There are things called masks that people hide behind. It's disgusting to pick on someone because of their choice of mask." She winked at the trio of girls and they gulped, sensing something was wrong. "Also, it helps to gossip in whispers. You never know who's listening, ne?"

They turned around, saw Nakamura and Fuji, squeaked, and fled.

"Ijuuin-chan's a curious character," Nakamura said softly, and Fuji tilted his head to one side as he waited for more. "Normally she seems happy-go-lucky, but she's smart. Impressively smart. No wonder you're taken by her; so much for the theory on opposites attract."

Fuji snorted, although it sounded more like he was releasing a breath he was holding. "You could say that, I suppose…"

"Konichiwa, Fuji-kun, Nakamura-sempai. It's sunny today; would you two like to join us for lunch outside?"

"Eh? We can?"

Miho giggled. "Why not? It's not fun to be cooped up inside on such a good day! Hurry, hurry!" And then she grabbed Fuji's hand and began to forcibly drag him outside. "Let's go! Before all the good trees are taken!"

"Wait… what? Miho-chan… stop pulling!!!"

"No way, Fuji-kun! We need to go faster, faster!"

"But… I need a lunch, first, don't I?" Fuji asked in a desperate attempt to disentangle himself from Miho. He had no such luck.

"I grabbed your bento from your locker!" Miho crowed, holding up the wrapped package. "I picked the lock! Eiji taught me!"

"Ah…" Whether or not Fuji should be happy about this new snippet of information, he wasn't quite sure.

Asa blinked as she watched her friends run off. _Miho-chan… is certainly fired up today... I wonder if something good happened. I wasn't paying attention to anything in class all day, now that I think about it… _"Wait for me!" she called out, scrambling after them with Eiji bouncing at her heels. "I want to get a good tree, too!" Behind her, Eiji mumbled happily about how his disciple had learned to pick a lock so well, so quickly. Asa decided that it would be better to ignore him.

Miho turned her head over her shoulder and stuck her tongue at Asa. "Nya~! You'll only get one if you move faster!" she called over Fuji's head as the poor boy was dragged along. "Don't come running crying to me when you don't get a good one, nya!"

"Now she's starting to sound like Eiji-kun…" Asa whined as she chased after them. "And stop running so fast!" she wailed.

"In your dreams!"

Nakamura blinked as he watched them vanish from his sight before smiling and trotting after them at a much more reasonable pace. After all, why run so fast when there were others ahead of you to stake out a good tree? He loved his reasoning sometimes.

***

"Mou, Ijuuin-chan, you look absolutely exhausted!"

"You can tell?" Asa asked her co-waitress as she tied on the apron that the sweet shop employees wore over her work uniform. "I had to chase after to annoying nekos… two annoyingly fast nekos that can pick locks into lockers." She sighed, tying off the apron's drawstrings into a pretty bow behind her back. "I'm going to relax while I work," she said seriously as she picked up a serving tray. _I hate running… I hurt all over and it reminds me of the time before my surgery,_ she thought miserably. _Speaking of surgeries reminds that I should get to the hospital for a checkup sometime soon, I think. Are we doing an electrocardiography, I wonder? _It was kind of a downer that Asa had to go back to the hospital on occasions to get chechups after the surgery, but she supposed that it was OK because then the doctor's would know ahead of time if anything was wrong.

Again.

She sighed, drooping. Stupid, stupid body… stupid, stupid heart… except it kind of was her life source so she supposed calling it stupid was an invitation for something bad to happen to her…

"Is something wrong, Ijuuin-chan?"

"Betsuni," she answered listlessly, sighing as she left the back room. The sweet shop was quiet; there weren't too many customers yet and so she plopped down into a chair, resting her chin in her hands.

"Ne, ne, have you heard?" the other asked, walking out the back room and sitting down opposite of Asa. She looked eager for gossip. "They say that…"

"Let me guess. The Nakamura family announced an engagement?"

"Eh? You know already?" She drooped momentarily before perking back up. "I wonder who the girl is, though, and what company her parents own. She must have a really rigid background in order to get picked by the Nakamuras… I heard that the father was really big on family lineage."

Asa couldn't help herself from snorting. Big on family lineages? Then wouldn't she have been the last person to be picked, if at all considered? People sure told the paparazzi things that weren't real. "Nakamura is just a guy who likes to rub the fact that one is a 'commoner' in someone's face," she huffed, looking sulky. "He likes to act important, but he has the power to back up all of his words. It's annoying…"

"What's this? You know the Nakamuras?"

Asa blinked, and then cursed herself for her stupidity. "N-not really… they're just rumors I heard…!"

Her poorly concocted excuse would have been bought had Aimi not suddenly bounce into the sweet shop. "Ijuuin-chan!" she sang out, and instantly pounced on her. "How's my dearest cousin's new fiancée doing?"

_Busted… and I was so close, too…_

And then, sad to say, Ijuuin Asa's career at the sweet shop plummeted. And the thing that irked Asa the most was the fact that she hadn't even lifted a finger to help in her own semi-demise.

Life was just not fair.

***

Asa woke up the next morning and let herself stay in bed even as her alarm clock rang merrily on her bedside table. She was still half asleep, having purposefully set her alarm to ring earlier than usual so that she could maintain her habit of walking to school.

_Right… walking to school…_ she thought to herself, dragging her still half-asleep body out of the warmth of her covers.

Seika, a curled up ball of white fluff, glanced up curiously and mewed, as if asking, 'Why are _you_ up so early?' Asa normally wasn't a morning person.

"I'm going to try to get to school earlier these days, Seika," she told her cat as she found her uniform and changed out of her pajamas. "It'll be good to get to school with time to spare. I'll be able to chat longer with my friends or ask the teachers for help on any homework that I couldn't answer." Besides, she didn't want to take a limo to school everyday. She wanted to be ordinary.

And ordinary meant walking to school, which she was totally fine with.

"Good morning," she offered as she entered the kitchen (Seika wasn't with her, opting instead to remain curled up in the comfort of Asa's bed). Both of her parents, up early because they would soon be leaving for their respective jobs, looked up in surprise.

"Good morning, Asa," her mother said, setting down her cup of coffee while Asa helped herself to a slice of toast. "Why are you up so early? The driver isn't here yet."

"I wanted to walk to school today," Asa mumbled through a mouthful of toast. Was that strawberry jam she spied on the table? She reached out and spread a generous helping onto her breakfast. "I like walking to school." Her parents looked like they were about to say something, but decided against it and returned to their breakfasts. Swallowing the last bit of her toast and licking the jam happily off of her sticky fingers, she stood up. "I'll be leaving, then," she said, bowing slightly before exiting the house.

Her parents sighed as one as the front door shut. "Maa… anata…" her mother sighed, looking at the empty hallway, "Asa is being particularly stubborn, isn't she? She could at least _try_ the limo. I heard it was quite nice."

Her husband offered a wry smile. "Old habits die hard," was all he offered before downing his coffee and standing up. Placing his dishes in the sink he turned to give his wife a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll be leaving, too. Aa-chan has an appointment with the doctor today after school, so I'll pick her up." And with that, he, too, left the house.

Asa had made it to the bus stop at the end of the street before she was stopped by a tug at her hand. Turning around, she nearly had a heart attack when she saw Nakamura standing behind her, grinning cheekily, face no more than a couple inches from her own. "Good morning!" she squeaked out, managing to compose herself a few moments later.

"Good morning to you, too, Ijuuin-chan," Nakamura said brightly. "I had a feeling that you would skip out on the ride." He watched her out of the corner of his eye. "You don't like limos? Would you have preferred a regular car?"

"I quite like walking to school, Nakamura-sempai, but thanks for offering."

"Mou… you're a stubborn person, aren't you?" Nakamura asked, slinging his schoolbag over his shoulder as he walked. "Do you usually walk to school with someone? How about a guy named Fuji Syusuke?"

Now she visibly stiffened. "Does it matter who I walk to school with?" she asked, choosing her words carefully.

Nakamura shrugged. "Not particularly," he said airily. "But I met Atobe-kun and Tezuka-kun in the halls yesterday. Atobe-kun said something rather interesting to me… he said that this year there is going to be a full-blown war against me."

"War…?" Asa echoed. Briefly, her memory took her back to yesterday morning, where Tezuka had replied, very seriously, that he was making 'war plans' with Atobe when asked why he was over at the Atobe residence. _But why against Nakamura-sempai? _she wondered, a little frown on her face as she thought.

_She looks cute with that tiny frown on her face,_ Nakamura thought as they continued walking. He closed his eyes briefly, they were starting to sting a little, proof of his sleepless night spent researching Fuji Syusuke (it was his father's idea, he was loathe to admit. He had said something along the lines of 'know your enemies well… befriend them and crush them!'). And he had come up with a pretty interesting report.

Nakamura felt that he could say that he was substantially prepared for anything his rival had and could throw his way. _After all,_ he thought bitterly, _I'll never hear the end of it if this engagement gets called off. Looks like I'll have to work hard. _Slacking off could prove to be a very dangerous move.

"Ah… it's Tezuka-kun!" Asa suddenly piped up. Nakamura roused himself from his thoughts and looked up. True to her word, there was Tezuka had just crossed the street and was now a little ways ahead of them. Asa picked up the pace a bit so that she could catch up to the taller boy. "Ohayo, Tezuka-kun!" she said cheerfully.

Tezuka turned his head, and uttered a single, "Hn."

Asa didn't seem to be too phased out by this simple, emotionless greeting. "Tezuka-kun's an early riser, isn't he?" she asked, still looking quite cheerful. Tezuka just listened to her chatterings, inserting an occasional, 'Hn,' or 'Ah,' whenever necessary. It wasn't until they had walked another few blocks when he finally spoke a decent sentence.

"Would you like to consider something?" he asked when Asa had paused for breath, only the tone of voice that he used stated that he would be giving her something to consider even if she said no.

"What am I suppose to consider?" Asa asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.

Tezuka looked straight in front of him as he continued to walk, and was silent for several moments. "Supposing there was something going on with the world, and you could only be with one person. Who would this person be? Who would you turn to for help, for comfort?"

"Huh?" Asa was sorely tempted to ask 'What have you done with Tezuka-kun?' The Tezuka-kun she knew wouldn't be speaking like that. Actually, the Tezuka-kun she knew probably wouldn't be speaking at all. "Is everything alright, Tezuka-kun?" she asked instead. Was he ill, by any chance? People did weird things when they were sick.

Tezuka sighed. Why was he doing this again…? Oh, right. Because Atobe had forced him to it after some… convincing… _This is the last time I am **ever** going to help Keigo in his strange plans_, he thought to himself, frowning darkly.

"Let me rephrase," he grunted, shifting his bag to a better position on his shoulder and pushing his glasses to a higher position on his nose. At least Atobe had the decency to pay him for his pains in humiliating himself with these strange talks, considering the look Asa was currently giving him. "Who is your special person?"

Asa came to a grinding halt, thorough confusion written all over her face, while Tezuka simply continued walking. "Why… all of a sudden…" she muttered, frowning herself.

_'Who is your special person?'_

_My… special person…_

She was at a loss. She couldn't answer his question, and that vexed her. All through classes it gnawed at the edge of her conscience, and she couldn't focus. She spaced out for an entire week because of that phrase, that stupid, stupid phrase.

_'Who is your special person?'_

_I don't know._

Asa glanced up at the sky, sitting with her back against a sakura tree. She could see Atobe sitting with Tezuka, the diva telling the captain something that she couldn't hear. They looked deep in thought. Under another tree sat Oishi and Eiji, and as she watched, Miho and Fuji walked up to them. Eiji grinned at once when he saw Miho and Miho plopped herself down next to him, giggling at something he said to her. Miho's special person was obvious, painfully so.

_I don't know who my special person is._

* * *

A/N: I hate it when I get a nice idea and then I go to write and it all collapses. Why me? Why??? *cries in a corner*

I apologize as Tezuka is a bit OOC in this chapter. There is a reason for that! I think...

But please **read and review**! If something bugs you, please let me know so that I can try to fix it.  
Remember, clicking the little green review button is _good_.  
It will not bite you. XD


	9. Chapter 8

**_Chapter 8_**

_The world is plotting against me,_ Asa sighed to herself as she dragged her weary body to school (having gotten up early again. Her parents had started making bets to see how long this would last before her biological clock started demanding that she get her regular amount of sleep. So far, she had lasted for two months). _Wait… stop thinking such negative thoughts! Focus on the good things! The good things, Asa-chan!_

She heaved another sigh. _It's no good… I can't do it. _She stared at the pavement beneath her toes in resignation. Those two months had been hectic, and were beginning to take their toll on her. With her lack of sleep, she had discovered herself being grouchy and unsociable most of the time, snapping at Miho or Eiji whenever they tried to talk to her in voices louder than whispers. She didn't mean it, and would apologize profusely afterwards, but the nagging feeling that she was making her friends suffer because of her own stubbornness kept hounding her, making her uncomfortable.

And then there was Nakamura-sempai, who had suddenly taken his whole 'courtship' duties to a whole new level. She was bombarded with gifts every single day. It followed a sort of pattern… there would always be some sort of flowers on Monday, given to her at the gate when she walked into the schoolyard (by now, Nakamura had resigned himself to the fact that she wouldn't be taking a ride to school). There would be some sort of expensive sweet or chocolate on Tuesday given to her right before her second period (which happened to be math). Some trinket of jewelry was always in her locker in a cute little box (complete with a matching ribbon) on Wednesday. A little cat toy to appease Seika would be given to her at lunch period on Thursday (how on earth did he find out about her cat, she had no idea). On every Friday, a gift basket would be sitting on her desk when she walked into homeroom.

And then, on the half day of Saturday, there would always be a letter written on fancy stationary tacked in the wall of her locker. Asa wanted to scream; what could she do with all of this stuff? She had enough gift baskets which included aromatherapy, bath lotions, body gels, body sprays, bath beads, and any other bath accessories to last her and probably the rest of Tokyo for the rest of their lives (OK, so maybe that was an exaggeration. But she _did_ get a lot of bath accessories from those gift baskets). The cat toys were put to good use, at least. Seika found them amusing and would play with them for awhile, letting Asa try to figure out what to do with the rest of the stuff. The flowers would be centerpieces for the kitchen table. The chocolates and sweets were given to Kurumi and Narumi to munch on.

The jewelry she tried not to look at. The shiniest of gemstones were set into delicate pendants of gold, silver, or white gold, and she dreaded thinking about how much that would cost for even _one _of them. So those she simply tucked into the top drawer of her desk, taking them out on rare occasions to marvel at their beauty before tucking them away again, feeling uneasy to have such expensive possessions. She'd have to make him stop doing that… somehow…

Soft music suddenly made its way to her ears, snapping her out of her thoughts, and she paused in her trek to glance around curiously.

_There!_ She took off at a spirited trot towards the sound when she had located its general direction, and stopped when she came to a halt in front of an old man sitting outside of an old-looking building, sandwiched between two modern ones. _I never noticed a building like this before… is that a music box?_

The old man looked up at her when she studied the music box that was sitting next to him on the stoop. A smile broke out on his wrinkled face. "You heard the music?" he asked softly, patting the little box lovingly. "It's a nice song… but not many people stop to listen. They're too busy." The music box stopped playing, and he rewound it, and the music started again.

"It sounds kind of… sad…" Asa ventured forward as she listened to it.

"So it does," the old man murmured in that soft voice of his. "But it is beautiful all the same, isn't it? No matter how sad life gets, it's important to know that there is still beauty in life. Life is not bleak because there is always someone looking out for you, loving you, and bringing color into your life." He studied her face closely. "You are confused, are you not?" he asked, picking up the music box and shutting it.

"Take this," he said, holding the box to her as he picked himself up off of the stoop. Asa tried to refuse, but he was adamant. "Listen to it, and sort through your confused thoughts," he said, placing the delicate box in her hands and turning around to enter the building. "A music box is a special thing… it holds so many memories, thoughts, and feelings simply by playing a song. It helps people to relax, to think, and to understand." He smiled at her again. "It is almost as if the music box was created to help people understand more about themselves."

Nodding to the box she held, he patted it once more. "Let this music box help you," he said kindly, and then he vanished into the building, leaving a puzzled Asa with the music box in her hands behind him.

_I take that back. It doesn't seem like the entire world is plotting against me. _She rubbed the top of the music box and then opened it, listening to its song, contemplating what the old man had told her.

_'No matter how sad life gets, it's important to know that there is still beauty in life. Life is not bleak because there is always someone looking out for you, loving you, and bringing color into your life.'_

_'Who is your special person?'_

Asa's eyes widened and she shut the box hurriedly. _Why? Why does everything revolve back to one central question?_

She did not have much time to further dwell on this, though, because she suddenly saw her wristwatch and the current time. It was late; she'd have to run in order to get to class on time. Cursing her ill fortune, she started running, holding the music box tightly in her hands lest she dropped it. And crap, today was Friday. She did not look forward to seeing a gift basket on her desk. Sighing, she continued to run.

In the building, the old man watched her go before turning to a younger man with silver hair. "Young Master Keigo, what exactly are you planning?" he asked, looking at the young man skeptically.

Atobe shrugged, leaning comfortably against the wall. "War plans," was all he said, and the man sighed. Really, now… what was it with the Young Master and war plans these past few months?

Shaking his head, the man donned on his spectacles and within moments became the trusty Atobe butler. "Young Master, would you like a ride to school? You'll be late for sure if you loiter around anymore."

"Ah… that would be ideal."

Atobe was lucky that he had such a nice butler, who did what he was told and complied with whatever strange scheme Atobe hatched out. Yes, Atobe was truly lucky indeed…

***

It was two weeks later that Asa made a shocking discovery: she was_ good_ at manipulation.

Ever since Aimi had announced her engagement status for all to hear in the sweet shop, the shop had become a haven for reporters, all of which were hungry for news. Asa noticed them eyeing her like she was some piece of delicious cake ready to be eaten, and she shivered as she served them. It was not a surprise that they tried to ask questions while she did her job, but luckily for Asa, her fellow waitresses would always pop up and drag her away before things got too out of hand.

"Thanks a bunch," she sighed, after she was dragged away from an awkward situation for the umpteenth time.

"No problem," replied the other. "Although, really, Ijuuin-chan, you need to fight back."

"Fight back?" Asa echoed, cocking her head to the side and looking curiously thoughtful. The first thing that popped to mind was the hilariously impossible image of her beating the living daylights out of the reporters, and she almost collapsed in a heap of giggles. _Think rationally,_ she told herself. _With your small build, you won't do anything that way._ She was thinking very hard about this until she heard a faint clicking sound.

Turning around, she found that one of the reporters, feeling bold, had pulled out a digital camera and was taking pictures. An idea hit her and she smirked deviously. The other waitress gulped nervously as she sensed a dangerous aura coming off of Asa.

"50000 yen," Asa said, leaning on the table so that her face was basically in the camera lens.

"Eh?!"

"If you are aiming to get images that will up your career, but want to include me in them, I want 50000 yen. Consider it buying the rights for this current set of pictures, as it currently is." She tapped the digital camera, fixing the man with a hard glare. "What? Did you expect that you could get away with it for free?" she asked, looking bored.

When he tried to get up and leave in a rush, she reached up, pressing several buttons on it as he got up and managing to eject the memory card, holding it in her fingers while he freaked in front of her. "Okaa-san's company works with cameras, too, so it's rather easy to eject the memory card," she explained. "Now, am I going to get my 50000 yen, or are you going to risk losing this memory card and go back empty-handed? Because all of your pictures are on this card…" Her blue eyes glinted, and he gulped. He was on dangerous territory.

"I'll pay, I'll pay!" he fairly wailed, slamming the money on the table. She counted it, holding the memory card out of his reach. When she was satisfied that all 50000 yen was before her, she tossed the memory card to him. "That's for this time. I expect another 50000 yen for the next batch." She grinned mischievously. "Please keep in mind that I can mess with your career and it will be really amusing for me. Don't mess up," she said lightly, although each word was laced with danger, and the reporter gulped once again.

He wasted no amount of time to flee the shop and Asa rested her chin idly in her hand, surveying the rest of the reporters in the shop. A nervous silence hung heavily over the place. Asa smiled sweetly, and the temperature dropped several degrees.

"50000 yen per batch," she said brightly, "or more amusement for me."

There was the sound of multiple gulping, and to the other waitress' amusement, they were storming her table, each laying out 50000 yen and watching almost impatiently as she counted the money before fleeing.

"Ne, Ijuuin-chan… somehow, that wasn't what I had in mind when I said 'fight back'," she said slowly when they all left.

Asa stretched herself and then glanced up at her, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I didn't think of it happening this way either, but I might as well profit off of my misery." She gathered up the money and stood up, vanishing into the back room and putting it safely away into her schoolbag before returning to the main room. "But it was entertaining… to a certain degree. Reporters are fun to manipulate." And besides, she couldn't _really_ mess with their careers (she hadn't the power). But they didn't need to know that.

_I'm sounding a lot like Fuji-kun,_ she thought, staring out the window. That's right… he liked messing with people's minds and instilling fear into them. She sighed. All of a sudden she really wanted to see him and his usual cheery mischievous smile, not the one he'd been wearing for the past few weeks. _I haven't seen Fuji-kun playfully tease anyone in a long time,_ she thought, looking worried. And it was true. All of the pranks that he had done lately had all been more than simple teases, each involving some level of torture and violence that was far above what he usually did.

_I kind of… miss the old Fuji-kun…_

Sighing again, she rubbed the back of her head. _I'm starting to confuse myself, _she thought. For the next two hours, she threw herself enthusiastically into her work, and any hapless reporter who made the mistake of entering the store with the intent of obtaining information or photos found himself (or herself, there were several female reporters, too) coughing up 50000 yen to the scary high school girl.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Asa said to the other girl as she grabbed her stuff and left the store. The other waitress waved cheerfully as she shut the door behind her and then turned to face the busy street before her. Unfortunately for her, it was raining, hard, and she was soaked within a matter of seconds. _Just my luck..._

She was about to start on her (wet) journey home when a soft voice calling her name made her stop. Pivoting on her heel, she saw Fuji standing just a couple feet away from her, holding a black umbrella. She was about to say something, but he was walking towards her, and it wasn't long before the rain was pelting off of the umbrella, and not off of her. "You need to be more careful," Fuji admonished sternly. "Hold this," he commanded, handing the umbrella to her. Puzzled, she held it above their heads while Fuji shrugged out of his jacket. "Here," he said, draping it over her shoulders and retaking possession of his umbrella.

His jacket was still warm from his body, and she wrapped it gratefully around her torso, unconsciously snuggling into it. "Why are you here?" she asked curiously, looking up at him. Fuji hadn't stopped by the sweet shop in such a long time, she was rather surprised to see him pop in (or, more accurately speaking, pop up outside the shop).

Fuji shrugged. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely too sure why he was here in the first place, either. "Let's go; I'll walk you home," he said, and took a hold of her wrist, tugging her forward gently as he started walking. "We'll hurry; you need to change out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold. Or a fever. That would suck, ne?" he asked, not looking at her as he walked. Asa sighed softly to herself as she allowed herself to get dragged along, the rain continuing to pound against the umbrella. Fuji could be so stubborn sometimes; it didn't look like she would be getting an answer.

They had walked for ten minutes before Fuji spoke again. "Does Nakamura-sempai ever pick you up?" he asked. "Not in his limo. Did he ever walk you somewhere?" As he spoke he refused to look at her, and she felt all previous happiness she had felt that day disappear as she watched his back quietly before answering him.

"No."

"I see…"

"But that's because he's really busy with studies and such!" she heard herself retorting in his defense. "He's probably helping out at his father's business! Or, or…" she trailed off as Fuji stopped and turned around to face her. His face was contorted with pain.

"Is it stupid to wait for something that might never come?" he asked softly. She couldn't find anything to answer him. A good friend would be comforting in times like this, but here she stood, awkwardly, not knowing what to do. "Is it worthless to try to prove yourself in the eyes of someone who's special to you?" Fuji asked, his voice barely above a whisper now. "If life is a colorful canvas, what happens when someone spills black paint all over it to cover all of the color? No one likes a black splotch..." Fuji would admit it... he was jealous. Terribly, terribly jealous. Miho and Eiji told him all about the gifts, and every single Friday he'd see her puzzling over what to do with the gift basket, holding the bulky item and trying to figure out where she would be stashing it so that she could lug it home and put it away or something. Nakamura was telling him in his face that he wasn't good enough for her.

And what irked Fuji was the fact that, sometimes he thought it was true. He hadn't the money to buy all those gifts (he highly doubted he could even keep it to one a week). Yumiko had mentioned one day at dinner (on accident) that the daughters of rich and prominent families would always marry into other rich and prominent families. Asa's family might not have been rich (although Fuji had heard a circulating rumor that each Ijuuin girl had a bank account with college savings already made up) but they were certainly one of the most important families in Japan. And what was he? Nothing compared to that. The Fuji family could not have been more painfully normal.

"Aa-chan, answer me honestly. Do you think I'm stupid?"

The first response that came to mind was a furious 'NO!' Fuji wasn't stupid… he was a tensai, after all, and tensais were supposed to be smart. But he was pleading with her, his blue eyes begging that she considered his question from different angles. And when she did that, her answer was…

"I don't know, Fuji-kun. I don't know anything anymore."

He was silent, crestfallen, and she spoke again. "But… I _do_ know that I don't like this current Fuji-kun. This current Fuji-kun isn't anything like the Fuji-kun everyone else knows, and it is this current Fuji-kun that is stupid." He remained silent, bending his head forward slightly so that his bangs shadowed his eyes. "Paint can always be removed, Fuji-kun," Asa murmured, holding his hand in hers and squeezing it gently. "Either that, or a black splotch can always be painted over. It can become colorful again."

She offered a small smile as she took the umbrella from him. "Would you like to see something?" she asked, and he glanced up, a quizzical expression on his face. "I just got it a few weeks ago from this very nice old man. I think you'll like it."

"What is it?"

She paused, turning and staring at the falling rain. What was it, exactly? She felt that simply saying 'music box' did not serve the purpose of describing it. It was a music box, truly, but it was more than a music box. It served to teach a lesson of life through music, and helped one think about one's problems, and unlocked one's special memories simply by playing a song. All this she had discovered for herself the first time she had played it in her room, the night she got it.

"It's a…" she started, before frowning softly. "Mou… it's different for everyone, just like how a dessert tastes different for everyone who eats it. Some people who like sweets will love it, while others won't." Fuji's expression became more confused and just kept going as Asa spun around to face him, looking determined. She'd cheer up Fuji even if it caused her death!

"If I show Fuji-kun this thing, will he tell me what he thinks it is?" she asked, looking serious.

Fuji was dumbfounded and at a loss for an answer. Recovering quickly, though, he nodded. "I will."

"Pinky swear?" she asked, holding up the slim finger like a child.

"Pinky swear," Fuji answered, hooking his pinky to hers. When was the last time he had made a pinky swear with someone? It made him feel childish, doing this in the middle of the streets in the pouring rain, but when he saw her smile, he decided it was all worth it.

No matter what happened, no matter how many times the green monster called 'jealousy' tried to consume him, he would work hard in his own special way, because it was all worth it if it was for Asa and her smile.

***

"Close your eyes, Fuji-kun," Asa instructed as she took her precious music box down from its exalted spot on her windowsill. Seika oversaw this whole procedure with her curious amber eyes, tail flicking from side to side as she mewed from Fuji's lap. It had been a long time since this human had visited her mistress's house. Seika had missed him, with his gentle smiles and soft words and kind pats, and now she snuggled into his stomach happily. The other human, the one who supplied the cat toys, was nice, but not nearly as nice as this one, whose lap she could sit happily in and whose scent was so comforting. In her opinion, her mistress was being stupid. Fuji was the ideal mate. Her ears twitched as she continued to mew contentedly.

"Can I open them now?" Fuji asked, sitting crosslegged on her floor while stroking Seika's soft fur. The cat purred happily as he continued to minister affection on her.

"No. Listen first." He heard her move and sit down in front of him, setting something on the floor with a gentle thumping noise. "Listen, and then tell me what you feel," she murmured quietly. Then she fell silent.

Music filled in the silence, the soft music of a music box. The hand that was stroking Seika faltered, and then stilled, but the feline didn't seem to mind, simply curling herself comfortably in his lap. All three of them, two humans and one fluffy white cat, listened quietly to the music.

All too soon, it ended, and Fuji was left to ponder in the dark about what he had just heard. "You can open your eyes now, Fuji-kun." He obeyed, blinking at the sudden influx of light into his eyes.

What he said next would put him to shame. The first thing that popped out of his mouth was, "I didn't know that you were one for sappy music box songs."

Asa was stunned. There was no other word to describe what she was feeling at that moment when those words had left his mouth. "S-s-sappy?" she stuttered out, somehow finding her voice and speaking although it didn't come out as smoothly as she would have liked. And the fact that her cheeks were on fire didn't help matters, either. "I… I…" She gave up on speaking altogether. _Mou! Why do I even try? _Grumbling to herself, she leaned backwards so that the side of the bed supported her back, sulking.

Fuji cocked his head to one side, feeling the faintest traces of guilt stirring in the pit of his stomach. Asa had only tried to cheer him up… he didn't have to go and comment on the sappy music. Actually, in truth, he hadn't even _thought_ that it was sappy. _Bad move, Syusuke,_ he scolded himself. _Very, very bad move. What do you hope to accomplish when you keep making bad moves like this?_

"It was probably a stupid idea, anyway." Fuji glanced up in surprise when he heard Asa sigh and speak, having collected her composure and was now managing to speak normally, without the stutter. "Fuji-kun is a guy, right? So music boxes are stupid for a guy to listen to. It's not manly enough…" she trailed off, hugging her knees to her chest, trying hard not to cry. Honestly, what was wrong with her? It was just a music box. It wasn't something to get all teary over.

But who was she kidding? Not herself, certainly. It wasn't _just_ a music box. It never was. Against her will, she sniffled, and this action did not go unnoticed by her guest, who was now feeling quite guilty.

"Aa-chan?" he ventured forth, looking worried. "Aa-chan? Gomen… I didn't mean it…" _If she cries, I am never going to forgive myself,_ he told himself. He was ashamed to admit that he had no experience whatsoever with crying females. Yumiko never cried, and on the rare occasions that she did, his mother had always told him to leave her alone, and she was the one who comforted his eldest sibling.

"Gomen, Aa-chan. It really wasn't that sappy." Somehow, Fuji had moved himself so that he was sitting right next to her. Seika had left his lap and was now amusing herself by nudging the music box with a little white paw. She was being ignored by the humans, but she didn't mind. Seika knew when to be a nosy cat and when to be an innocent bystander of a kitten.

Instinctively, Fuji reached out, taking Asa by the shoulders and easing her towards him. The way her head nestled against his neck, the way she pressed her small frame against his side, it all felt so natural to him.

He was not ashamed to say that he held her until she fell asleep, stroking her hair and whispering quietly in her ear. Seika sauntered over to them then, sniffing her sleeping owner, and then mewing happily.

"Take care of her, Seika," Fuji told the cat, shifting the girl over to the bed and tucking her in before moving the music box onto her desk. Seika saw him to the front door and mewed a farewell as Fuji let himself out of the house and started for his own.

Fuji let himself into his own home feeling strangely accomplished. He was still grinning like an idiot when Yumiko asked him where his jacket was.

"Oh, it's… somewhere," he had replied lightly with a faint wave of his hand as he headed up to his room (he had never asked Asa to return his jacket. She'd probably do it sooner or later, anyway, without him asking). Collapsing on his bed, he sighed happily. _Ha! Take that, Nakamura-sempai!_

Oh, yes… Fuji felt very accomplished when he fell asleep that night.

* * *

A/N: This is such a LONG chapter...! O_o I can't believe it's so long... almost 5000 words.

But it was fun writing about Asa manipulating those poor reporters into paying her money for information. Reporters will do anything for their scoop. XD And what better way to make yourself feel better than by profiting off of your misery? Hmm.... I wonder... =(^_^)=

As always, please **read and review**! Thank you!


	10. Chapter 9

**_Chapter 9_**

"Vacation is finally here!" Eiji crowed happily, stretching his arms above his head. Miho laughed at her boyfriend's happy expression. They had only been boyfriend and girlfriend for a day, but anyone looking at them would have assumed that they had been going out for months. They certainly didn't _act_ like a new couple.

"Ne, Miho-chan, how did you end up as Eiji-kun's girlfriend again?" Asa asked, propping her chin on her hands. Today was the last day of school before the blessed two weeks of break. The school day had not yet started, so Asa and her friends were chatting. It was several weeks after the music box incident, and Asa had tried hard not to look at Fuji during any of those six days. Every time she did, she got a pounding feeling in her chest and her face would heat up to about a thousand degrees, so she did the only sensible thing in those situations:

She ran. As far away as possible, which, sadly, usually didn't amount to much of a distance.

She roused herself from her thoughts and turned instead to Eiji and Miho. In truth, she knew full well how they got together. It actually wasn't anything epic, Eiji had simply asked Miho if she wanted to go out with him yesterday before afternoon tennis practice, and Miho had replied 'yes.'

Actually, now that Asa thought about it, most relationships started like that. But still, she supposed the experience was different for everyone. She had nearly suffocated to death when Miho pounced on her at the school gates, her face putting any self-respecting tomato to shame. 'He… he… he…' she had stuttered into her ear, still clinging to her neck while Asa tried in vain to pry her off and make her talk in coherent sentences, wondering if perhaps Miho had indulged herself in too many sweets last period and was now laughing like a madman because she was sugar-high.

'HE ASKED ME OUT!!!' Miho finally shrieked (into Asa's ear, no less…), loud enough for everyone who was within a five-mile radius to hear. This included Eiji, who simply grinned widely while turning another five shades of red. It actually was quite adorable; Asa wished that she had had a video camera in her possession so that she could have recorded it.

When Asa was finally released from her friend's death grip, blue in the face and half deaf, the first thing she did was ask 'who?' although she already knew. The rest of the afternoon was spent congratulating her, trying to get Oshitari to accept the fact that his 'dear baby sister' finally had her first boyfriend, and shopping for an outfit for the date. By the time Asa got home that night, she was exhausted, but quite productive, judging from her shopping bags. When there was a sale, one simply _must _stop by and check it out.

"Ne, Asa-chan, are you doing anything over summer vacation?" Miho asked, leaning over her desk so that she was half on Asa's. "You can come over to my house before going to the Tanabata Festival. I heard they're holding one near here, but if we want to see a big one we can always take a train to Hiratsuka." She had a hopefully expectant look in her brown eyes.

Asa shook her head. Time passed by quickly… it was already August. Just yesterday it had felt like June. She wondered where all the time went. "I'm not going anywhere over break," she replied, sighing. "I was kind of looking forward to going over to Obaa-sama's house over vacation, but she called earlier and said that she highly advises against it. She said something about her garden being shameful…"

"Well, either way, I'm kind of glad she isn't letting you go over," Miho said happily. "'Cause that means I get to keep you for break!" she said proudly. Eiji sulked, and Miho hurried to assure him that she'd also spend a lot of time with him, as well. Asa chuckled, smiling cheerfully, until the door slid open and their attentions were shifted to the doorway. Atobe stood there, his gray eyes surveying the classroom before marching over to the back corner where Asa, Miho, and Eiji sat. Shishido, who sat in the front row by the window, sighed and offered the three of them a pitying look, almost as if to say: 'Good luck.'

Miho glanced up at Atobe and flashed him a wide smile. "Ne, Atobe-kun, do you want to come, too?" she asked amiably, "We're having a little gathering at my house and then we're going to go as a group for Tanabata. It'll be fun."

"Ore-sama appreciates your kindness, and will reciprocate the honor." Atobe then turned to Asa and raised an eyebrow at her. Asa blinked up at him, puzzled. "Have you seen Fuji today?"

"Fuji-kun? No… I haven't seen him today…" Granted, she hadn't seen a lot of people yet since she had went straight to homeroom that morning, but it didn't seem like he cared.

Instead, Atobe had turned away and was muttering something about "elusive idiots." Asa, Miho, and Eiji gave each other curious glances.

"Fujiko isn't sick, is he?" Eiji asked, looking worried. "I'll text him, nya!" The redhead whipped out his cell phone and began typing in a text message to Fuji.

It didn't take long for his phone to buzz, and the four of them crowded around, staring at the screen. It read: **Sick. Fever. Nee-san says I have to stay home. :( **(Fuji had never seemed to get the hang of using abbreviations in his texting).

"Mou… poor Fuji-kun," Miho murmured, then brightened up. "We should totally visit him after school today!"

Eiji perked up as well, looking very excited. "Yeah! We can get him a cactus, too!" he chirped happily. "It's decided then! We're visiting Fujiko after school today to cheer him up and make sure he gets well soon!"

He turned his attention back to his phone and hurriedly typed something into it. Moments later, it buzzed in his hand, and he showed it to his friends. It read: **Cactus? That sounds nice… I'm looking forward to it.**

Any chance for further conversation was cut short with the arrival of the teacher, who called the class to order sternly and told Atobe to get out and go to his own class, which the diva did so. He took his time, though, which obviously infuriated the teacher.

But it was amusing to watch, so the class didn't mind.

***

In Home Economics, Asa was paired up with Miho and the two girls pored over the cookbook, looking for something that would be nice and easy to make, but would taste good. For this assignment, they were required to make something that would cheer someone up, so both girls had instantly turned to sweets and something that tasted sweet. Actually… most of the class had done that.

"What about cookies?" Asa finally asked, pointing to a recipe. "We can add honey to the batter, and fold chocolate into it. If we melt the chocolate beforehand and then add it, I think we could have a good result."

Miho nodded enthusiastically. "Right! And if they turn out to be good, we can bring some over to Fuji-kun's house!" She bounced off to get the chocolate and honey, while Asa started mixing the batter for the cookies.

A half hour later, the end results of the class were put out on the front table for sampling. Asa picked up one of their cookies and bit into it. Miho did the same, and grinned promptly as she bit past the sweet, honeyed cookie into the gooey chocolate. "Ne, Asa-chan, it's really good! Did you do this before… folding chocolate into a cookie, that is?"

Asa swallowed her bite and nodded. "A long time ago, I think." She popped the rest of her cookie into her mouth and then the two girls followed the rest of the class in sampling the other products. There was a chocolate cake, baked a little too hard but otherwise quite delicious. There was a fruit tart, cupcakes, muffins, and other sweet desserts. The class had made quite an array of food, and Miho was more than happy to munch her way through them all.

"Ne, sensei, can I take some of our cookies home?" Asa asked, and when she received a nod, she took a bag and packaged the leftover cookies away, tying the bag with a ribbon that Miho produced from her back pocket. "I have the offering, Miho-chan. We're good to go." Miho grinned.

After tennis practice that afternoon, Miho and Asa followed Eiji to one of the stores he had scouted out to have cactuses for sale, and they spent ten minutes picking out the perfect cactus (Eiji did, at least. Miho and Asa simply tried to come with a name for it). It was five o'clock by the time they made it to Fuji's front door.

Fuji opened it after they rang the doorbell three times. He was a disheveled mess, with flushed cheeks and open eyes that blinked tiredly at them. "Hey," he said, flashing a tired smile to his visitors. "Do you have the cactus?" he asked, stepping aside and letting them come into the house.

Eiji held up the white shopping bag where Sora (that was the name they had settled on for Fuji's newest cactus) was in. "Sora-chan is right here!" Eiji said cheerfully.

Fuji's smile widened. "You even named it! I'll pick a special spot for Sora-chan!" He broke off to cough, his body shaking as he almost bent over double, and Miho dragged Eiji into the kitchen to make tea, leaving Asa along with Fuji in the main hallway.

There was an awkward silence that was only penetrated by Fuji's hacking cough, and Asa sighed, setting her bag on the counter and then taking Fuji's elbow. "Back to bed with you," she said, steering him up the stairs. He tried to protest, but she just continued to push him up the stairs. "Which one is yours?" she asked when they made it to the top. Fuji gestured straight down the hall, and she proceeded to push him gently to the last room.

Fuji sighed happily as he sank back into his bed. He watched Asa quietly as she tucked the blankets around him, muttering a soft "Thank you" when she was finished with that. "I'll make some okayu. Otou-san always said that okayu makes one feel better when they have a fever." Fuji nodded quietly and she slipped away.

"Ne, Miho-chan, Eiji-kun… you two are taking an awfully long time making a couple cups of tea…" Asa mused as she walked into the kitchen. "And how do you expect to make tea without anything tea-related out?" She raised a skeptical eyebrow, and her friends simply grinned at her, not looking in the least bit guilty. Asa sighed. They were probably planning something in their devious little minds and Asa, for one, did _not _exactly want to find out what they were planning.

She took her mind off of her not-so-innocent friends and opened the cupboard. "You don't think he'll mind the prepackaged kind, do you?" she asked, showing a package of rice porridge, which only required adding water and then heating.

Miho shrugged, finally getting out the tea set. "He looks so sick he'll probably eat anything as long as it's warm," she stated. Eiji nodded as he boiled water in the kettle, and Asa started making the promised okayu. "Ne… I wonder how he got sick in the first place. This is the first time I've ever seen Fuji-kun sick before."

"Mou… maybe he caught one of those 24-hour bugs that's flying around," Asa mused, setting a bowl of the hot rice porridge onto a tray and then heading back upstairs. "Fuji-kun," she called out, opening his bedroom door. The boy was curled up on his side, fast asleep, snuggled deeply into his covers, and Asa chuckled lightly. _I'll just leave this on his desk, then, and he can eat it when he wakes up._

Just then, Fuji shifted on his bed and turned to face her, blinking sleepily. "Okayu?" he asked, looking very much like a small child. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, rubbed the last traces of sleep from his eyes, and then climbed out of bed, sitting down at his desk. "Mmm…! Even the prepackaged kind tastes good when someone makes it for you!" he said happily as he ate. Asa watched in amusement as he rolled the pickled plum that she had added in the center around his bowl, seemingly unsure about whether or not he wanted to eat it right at that moment or save it for later.

The phone rang at that point, and Fuji paused in his musings to glance at his cell phone. "Ah? It's Tezuka!" he announced, picking up the phone. "Moshimoshi, Tezuka!" he said cheerfully, his voice much sweeter than usual. Asa decided that her father was right when he said that sick people were weird.

There was silence on the other end, and then Tezuka said, "Fuji, you're sick."

Fuji blinked, looking surprised. "Ah… you know?" he asked, setting the phone on 'speaker phone' and returning to his okayu.

Asa heard a sigh on the other end from Tezuka. "Even if you were planning to play a prank on me or someone else, you'd never sound that cheerful if you were not sick," Tezuka answered Fuji. Fuji pouted, shoveling another spoonful of rice porridge into his mouth.

"Mou… Tezuka…" he whined, and Asa thought that he sounded a lot like Eiji at that exact moment. Being sick certainly changed someone… she wondered if that happened to her when she was sick.

"Anyways, I called about the Tanabata Festival." Fuji perked up, pausing with a spoonful of okayu halfway to his mouth. There was an expectant expression on his face. "We are_ not_, and I repeat, _not_, going to run a kissing booth. _Absolutely not._" Fuji drooped, looking sulky, and Asa twitched, deciding that it would be safer not to ask how on earth Fuji got the kissing booth idea.

Tezuka cleared his throat before Fuji could ask a childish, 'Why not?' and spoke again. "We _can_, however, have ice cream booth. My grandfather taught me how to make mochi, and we can borrow a cooler or two to hold the ice cream in it."

"Oh! That way, the ice cream will be easier to eat and it won't drip on everyone's yukatas!" Asa said brightly, looking excited. "May I help?"

"Ijuuin? You should be careful when Fuji's sick."

"Ah… hai…" Off to the side, Fuji huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. Was he really that much of a monster when he was ill? "Maa… maa… Fuji-kun…" Asa offered, trying to appease to her sulking patient.

"In any case, I'll reserve the booth, and whenever you next see Kikumaru ask him for ice cream flavors. Atobe has said that he and his team will help as well, so just go to him with the bill. Ijuuin, stop Fuji if he tries to resurrect the kissing booth idea." There was a click as Tezuka hung up the phone, and Fuji turned his off as well, sighing.

"Saa, Tezuka…" he said sadly, "that was my best idea yet." He sighed; Tezuka really wasn't all that fun. He had been hoping that he could get some good blackmail pictures of the captain and then sell it for profit to his fangirls. "What a disappointment…"

His bedroom door opened and Miho and Eiji popped in, carrying a tray of tea and the bag of cookies. "Sorry it took a while," Miho offered cheerfully when Asa gave her a sullen glare, not looking the least bit sorry. Neither did Eiji. "Fuji-kun, why do you look so sad?" she asked.

"Tezuka-kun won't let Fuji-kun run his kissing booth," Asa explained. Eiji gave a sigh of relief. "We're holding an ice cream booth instead, it seems. Tezuka-kun's grandfather taught him how to make mochi, so we can make mochi ice cream. He said that Atobe-kun and his team are helping, and that they're paying the bills."

Miho smirked. "It's always nice when the rich people contribute," she teased. "What ice cream flavors are we picking?" she asked, looking thoughtful as she poured out a cups of tea for all four of them and opened the cookies.

Fuji picked a cookie and nibbled it, his sulky mood evaporating. "Tezuka said that Eiji gets to pick the flavors."

"Eh? Me? Really, nya?" Eiji looked ready to burst with happiness. "I'll pick the best flavors, then! There's got to be vanilla… and chocolate… and strawberry… and, and…"

"Black cherry?" Asa asked, taking a notepad that Fuji handed to her and digging a pen out of her pocket, scribbling down the flavors of ice cream. "I heard that black cherry tastes nice."

Eiji was all for it, and by the time they had finished their tea and cookies, the list stretched impressively long. Miho suggested that they select ten flavors out of the list. "We can buy the trays that can hold two of the mochi ice creams," she suggested. "Having ten flavors will give the costumers some freedom in choosing what they want." Her friends nodded and Asa scribbled it down in the margin.

"Now… all we need to do is decide on the flavors…"

***

In the end, it turned out that making mochi was more of a disaster than anything else, and Tezuka had resorted in the end to buying prepackaged mochi from the nearest grocery store, leaving the rest of his mochi-making team to clean up the mess in the kitchen in Miho's house (Fuji had not been adequately watched, and had been fiddling with the stove, causing an explosion). Then, with the first gallon of ice cream as their experimenting substance, they had discovered that they failed at folding the ice cream into the mochi, whether prepackaged or not.

"Should we try bean paste?" Asa offered as they cleaned up the melted ice cream (but not before Shishido, Eiji, and Gakuto had proceeded to make themselves ice cream cones and were happily munching on them. Who knew that Shishido had a sweet tooth?). "I think I got the basic idea of folding it in, and red bean paste won't melt like ice cream. It'll be sticky… that's all… I think we can pull it off."

So Tezuka had agreed, and Asa and Fuji were sent on their merry way to buy a few cans of red bean paste. "And powdered sugar," Asa murmured, looking thoughtful as the two of them waited for the bus. "We can sprinkle powdered sugar on top, too, now that I think about it."

Fuji chuckled as the bus came to the stop and they boarded, paying for bother of them. "You're getting excited about this, aren't you?" he asked cheerfully. His fever was gone and he was now brimming with energy. "But I still think that my idea was better," he sighed as he found a spot to sit down. Asa sighed, shaking her head from side to side and not commenting.

In the grocery store, Fuji padded behind her like her second shadow while she found what she wanted to buy. "I'm so excited for Tanabata!" she said happily, finding the red bean paste and placing it in her shopping bag. "Just thinking about everything that has to do with the festival makes me happy!" She grinned, looking like a little kid who was receiving presents. "What about you, Fuji-kun?" she asked, turning to him, still smiling brightly.

Fuji laughed softly, taking the shopping bag from her and continuing down the isle, looking curiously at all of the goods being sold before picking out a few extra snacks and tucking them into the bag. "Because festivals only come once a year, that's why they're so great, ne?" he asked.

"Hmm… I suppose that's right… Fuji-kun! Stop putting so much extra snacks into the bag! We're not going anywhere, so we won't need it! Besides, how on earth are we going to pay for it all?!"

"Maa… maa… snacks are good to munch on, though!" Fuji protested, dashing off through the store with Asa chasing him, trying to stop him from grabbing anything else off of the shelves. "I think we'll be able to pay for this if we pool our money together! Eiji and I will have all of these snacks polished off in record time!"

"You do _not _mean to tell me that you two are going to stuff these snacks down your throats…"

When they made it back to the Oshitari residence, Fuji had already began happily munching on some of his purchased snacks. Asa simply sighed as she walked behind him, thankful that they had been able to pay for all of that. "Tadaima!" Fuji said happily as he walked into the kitchen. "We got everything! Plus a few extras! Eiji, want some Pocky?"

Eiji was instantly at Fuji's side, taking the proffered Pocky and munching happily on it. The rest of the snacks were divvied up while Tezuka set to work with the bean paste. It took the boys a grand total of five minutes to finish everything. "See?" Fuji asked Asa, popping the last bit of Pocky into his mouth. "I told you the snacks would be gone in record time."

"Thank Kami-sama that growing boys have high metabolism rates," Asa muttered.

"All finished!" Miho said happily when a few hours had passed. "You know, these actually look quite good…" She trailed off as she sprinkled the powdered sugar over their creations. "Oh, speaking of which… why are we running a booth in the first place?" she asked, turning to Tezuka curiously.

Tezuka set the snacks onto their trays and covered them, placing them away for safekeeping. "Ryuuzaki-sensei and Sakaki-sensei asked us to man a stall for the festival. We'll be taking turns, of course, so you won't miss the festival."

"Oh… I see…"

"Saa… it'll be fun… since we couldn't go with _my_ idea," Fuji piped up, throwing a glare at Tezuka. Tezuka twitched, and would have retorted, had Oshitari not poked his head into the kitchen.

"Has anyone seen Mi-chan?" he asked, looking flustered. "I can't find her anywhere!"

Miho huffed. "Your evil little kitty is probably hiding somewhere devising a new plot to conquer the world. Honestly, Nii-san, why couldn't you have gotten a _nice_ kitty, like Asa-chan's Seika? Mi-chan's always out to attack me."

Now it was Oshitari's turn to huff. "Well, maybe if you didn't try to shoo Mi-chan off of the chair when she was napping every single afternoon Mi-chan would like you better!"

Their argument continued, growing quite heated, and neither of them noticed a sleek, black cat stride into the kitchen, moving gracefully towards the counter. The cat glanced around, green eyes wide with curiosity, before trotting over to Asa and leaping into the girl's lap, much to her surprise. "What soft ears you have," she cooed as she played with the cat's ears. The cat snuggled against her and purred.

Thus, the rest of the afternoon passed by rather uneventfully.

***

Fuji loved Tanabata festival. It was his second favorite holiday next to Christmas, which was interesting to him because in Japan Christmas wasn't really a holiday, just a day that people exchanged gifts with each other.

But either way, Christmas and Tanabata were fun festivals, so he was happy.

"So we're the first to man the stall, ne?" Fuji asked cheerfully as he made himself comfortable on a bench they had set up. He leaned casually forward, his chin in his hands, his smiling eyes taking in the sights of the festival and his ears listening to the happy chatterings of the festival-goers. He was dressed in a light blue yukata, thankfully his own, since he had managed to thwart his sister from taking all of his yukatas and stashing them away somewhere and then forcing him to wear one of hers. Although he had to admit that a girl's yukata was much softer than a guy's, he still liked wearing a guy's yukata because, frankly speaking, he was a guy, last he had checked. "As long as there's still food by the time we're done with our shift, I'll be happy."

Asa sat down next to him on the bench and nodded. "Hai! This year I'm going to get one of those goldfish from that goldfish game!" she said determinedly, her blue eyes flashing. "I will I will I will!"

Fuji chuckled, his head tipping gently to the side. Ah, the goldfish game, in which one was given a paper net and a tank of goldfish to catch. "Let me guess, your net keeps breaking?" he teased, before turning his face beck to facing forward, giving his most angelic of smiles to the passersby. His cheeks were tinted with the faintest shade of pink, making him look all the cuter and successfully reining in those unsuspecting costumers.

_Girls should be banned from wearing pretty yukatas and putting their hair up in fancy ways,_ Fuji thought to himself as he sold some of their products to a customer. He was rewarded with a bright smile as the customers, a six-year old child and his father, bit into the snacks they had made and liked them. He chanced a glance at Asa and found her selling diligently. She was wearing a white yukata sprinkled with sakura blossoms and pink obi. Her hair had been put up in a bun with pink hair sticks, although a couple strands escaped her bun and framed her face. Really, though… she looked really pretty for the event…

Shaking his head roughly from side to side, he returned his attention to the current situation, although he didn't miss the puzzled look she gave him. An hour later, when Miho and Eiji showed up to take their turn, Fuji nearly cannoned out of the booth, much to everyone's amusement. "Fuji-kun's acting strange tonight," Asa sighed, getting up and following her friend at a slower pace. Eiji and Miho snickered behind her back before Eiji proceeded to charm everyone with his cute cat-like antics (he made for a better salesperson than one would originally give him credit for).

"Mou… Fuji-kun… what's the big rush?" Asa asked when she finally caught up with Fuji, happy with the fact that she didn't trip in her wooden sandals. He was standing in front of the small bamboo grove, which was already sporting many, many little strips of paper with peoples' wishes on them, holding another sheet of paper and pencil in his hand, looking thoughtful. "Where'd you get the tanzaku?" Asa asked Fuji, gesturing to his piece of paper.

"I got two; you can have one," Fuji said absentmindedly, handing her the paper. "I only have one pencil though… you don't mind waiting?" he asked, frowning thoughtfully up at the bamboo leaves.

Asa shook her head. "Not really. I need to think of my wish first, anyway." Fuji nodded before writing something down on his piece of paper, handing the pencil over to Asa and then stepping forward to hang his paper onto the bamboo.

Armed with the pencil, Asa stared down at her blank paper, brows furrowing as she thought. What did she wish for? _I guess… for a better understanding of life? That sounds really cheesy…_ She sighed, drooping, and Fuji placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry!" he offered gently. "You don't have to think of a wish right now. You have all night to consider!"

She looked up at his face. "Hai!" Tucking away the pencil and the paper, she trotted after Fuji as he weaved his way back into the festival. _That's right, right? There's no need to rush into things._ Following Fuji and letting him point out areas of interest or particular fun, she let a happy smile cross her face. _I shouldn't worry during a festival! That would take all the fun out of it,_ she decided, skipping forward and latching herself happily onto Fuji's arm, tugging him to the right. "This way, this way!" she said excitedly, pointing towards the goldfish stall. "Play with me?" she pleaded, and Fuji let himself be tugged forward, blushing furiously and thankful that it was such a warm day that he could pass off his pink cheeks to the weather.

Leaning over the fish tank, he eyed the goldfish, paying the man who ran the stall and taking his paper net into his hand. "Alright… which goldfish is going to get a new home?" he asked cheerfully, his hand hovering above the tank before diving downwards, snatching a goldfish and flipping it neatly into the bowl. Next to him, Asa clapped, a big grin spreading over his face as the goldfish was bagged and handed to him.

"My turn to pick a game," Fuji said happily, handing her the goldfish and holding out his hand to help her up. She nodded, accepted the fish, and took his hand, letting him lead her through the festival. In that instance, they were transformed back into wide-eyed children, who wore yukatas that were a bit big for them and who dashed from stall to stall, pointing at products and begging to buy them.

Fuji really, really loved the Tanabata Festival.

* * *

A/N: One day... I am going to a real Tanabata Fesitival... one day... ^_^

Tanzaku = small pieces of paper where wishes are written on during Tanabata, often in the form of poetry, and then hung on bamboo.  
Obi = a long sash worn over the waist of a yukata or kimono

The Tanabata scene is going to be split into two parts... 'cause it's too long to squish into one. =) And my mom makes really good snacks out of mochi and red bean paste. It's sticky and sweet and delicious and I don't know its English name. ^^; But it's good! And mochi ice cream is good, too...

Please **review**! Thank you! Mochi ice cream for anyone who does. *holds out tray of mochi ice cream*


	11. Chapter 10

**_Chapter 10_**

Nakamura disliked Tanabata Festival with an unbridled passion. He hated everything about it; the games that had no purpose, the food that was either too sweet or fried in too much butter, the crowds, the noise, the too-many-bright-colors that were all trying to grab his attention at once (be it decorations or yukatas), and most of all, out of everything that made up Tanabata Festival, he hated the smiles of the festival goers.

He hated it hated it hated it.

Why on earth would anyone make such a big deal over a stupid festival that was based _entirely on a myth?_ Did anyone know for sure whether or not Orihime and Hikoboshi actually existed? The whole legend sounded so stupid to him, what with the fact that Orihime was the daughter of Tentei and worked so-very-hard to weave cloth for her father. Even if she worked hard, she could have still fallen in love with someone while working. It wasn't like you had to actually_ try_ to fall in love. And then there was Hikoboshi, who fell in love with the princess immediately after meeting her and then marrying her. First of all, wouldn't it have been difficult to for a cows herder to marry a princess simply due to social ranks? And who in their right mind would let their cows stray all over Heaven? It was stupid.

Everything about Tanabata was stupid.

"Katsuo, please stop sulking and huffing," his mother sighed, turning to look at her son. She was dressed festively in a new yukata just for the event, and Nakamura was, too, although he didn't look thrilled to be in it. He hated wearing yukatas. They were stupid and long and were too similar to dresses for his taste. "Katsuo, Tanabata is a time for _fun_," his mother stressed, reaching up and placing a delicate hand on his shoulder. "Sulking and huffing and frowning and saying 'stupid' over and over again are not fun. You need to relax… write a wish or two on tanzuka and hang it on the bamboo. Perhaps sing a song? You used to love singing songs during Tanabata when you were little."

Nakamura pulled away, looking mortified at the mental image of himself singing. "No thank you," he mumbled, turning sharply on his heel. "I'll go look at the displays," he mumbled, stalking off. Behind him, he could hear his mother calling to him about trying the goldfish game. Why would he? He could easily buy all the goldfish he wanted with a snap of his fingers. Why expend valuable energy trying to flip out a fish with a paper net?

_I want to go home_, he sighed to himself, stalking through the crowd of happy people, a dark raincloud that everyone kept far away from. _There are so many better things that I could be doing with my time instead of wandering around this place with its gathering of idiots._

There used to be a time where he had actually enjoyed Tanabata. It used to be his favorite holiday. A week before the event, he'd be ecstatic, tearing through the Nakamura mansion brainstorming wishes. He used to have so many that his mother had had to limit the amount of paper he would have on the night of the actual festival to write them all down.

'If you have too many wishes,' his mother had said, kneeling down and looking her young son straight in the eye, 'the gods will become angry at you, because you are greedy. The gods need to help everyone who wrote a wish on Tanabata night.'

And his little self had nodded, looking very serious, and had replied back with an enthusiastic, 'Hai!' and had then trotted up to his room to narrow down his wishes to the five that he really wanted.

_Maybe it's because… my wishes never came true, even in the slightest… that I don't like this festival as much as I used to. _Having someone to enjoy the festival with would have been a plus, as well. Whether he liked it or not, he didn't have a lot of friends his own age, then and now.

Nakamura paused in front of the goldfish stall, watching as a young child tried to flip out a fish. The paper net grasped firmly in his pudgy little hand, the child went at it with a vengeance, ending with the net breaking after two tries. But the child didn't cry, didn't appear frustrated at all. He simply turned around, looked at his father, watched as said father paid the booth manager again, took the new net and tried again.

And again, and again, and again.

And when he finally landed a goldfish, he was so happy that his smile nearly ran off of his face. At that point, Nakamura promptly turned and walked away.

_If I see one more smiling face, I'm going to snap._

He had nearly made it to the outskirts of the festival when his eyes caught two familiar figures, one clad in a blue yukata with an ice cream cone in his hand, leading another figure clad in a pink yukata in his other hand. The one in the pink carried a bag with a goldfish in it, and was looking wide-eyed around the festival as she followed the first, occasionally giving a little tug at his arm to direct his attention to something that had caught her eye.

_Fuji-kun… and Ijuuin-chan,_ Nakamura's mind registered as he retreated to the shadows, watching them quietly. He felt strangely empty, instead of the characteristic jealousness that one is supposed to feel when they see their fiancée with some other guy. _They're smiling and laughing. Everyone's smiling laughing. Am I the only one not smiling? Not laughing? Not enjoying myself?_

Somehow, the revelation made him want to shrink into a little dust speck and vanish. He didn't belong here, with all of these happy people.

In a way, he had never really belonged here.

***

"Are there fireworks tonight?" Asa asked as she trotted after Fuji. Her goldfish was cradled protectively in her arms as she held onto Fuji's hand, head whipping from side to side as she took in all of the colorful sights. She was happy, having filled herself on sweets that evening and playing various assortments of games with Fuji (somehow, despite their best efforts, they had not been able to locate Miho, or Eiji, or anyone else they knew, for that matter).

Fuji licked his ice cream (unfortunately, it wasn't wasabi flavored, but vanilla was good, too, he supposed) and nodded. "It's supposed to be really pretty. I should have brought my camera." He sighed wistfully, imaging his digital camera sitting peacefully on his desk.

"Wouldn't a camcorder be better at capturing fireworks?"

"I don't own a camcorder," Fuji said sheepishly. "So I make do with my digital camera."

"Ah… is that so?" Asa asked, tilting her head to the side as Fuji polished off the rest of his ice cream and then proceeded to drag her to a cotton candy booth. _Something doesn't feel right… I feel like I'm being watched,_ she thought to herself, chancing a glance over her shoulder.

"Two cotton candies," Fuji said to the booth manager. Taking his two cotton candies, he turned and trotted back to Asa. "Here you go," he said cheerfully, offering the treat to her. "Saa… is something wrong?" he asked curiously, noting the way she was looking oddly over her shoulder.

Asa turned back to Fuji, but not before casting one more uncertain glance over her shoulder. "I'm not exactly sure… it seems like there is someone watching me." Fuji's blue eyes opened and they radiated hate, and Asa hurried to assure him that it probably wasn't a stalker or a pervert or anything of that kind. "If I had telepathic powers, if would almost seem like someone is sad," she said softly, staring into her fluffy cotton candy.

Fuji relaxed, nibbling at his sweet treat (his mother would scold him on the mass amount of sweets he had consumed that night, and haul him off to the dentist's later to check for cavities, he knew) as he digested this information. "Why don't we see who it is?" he offered. "You'd do it anyway, wouldn't you?" he asked, looking thoughtfully at her. Inui had once mentioned that Asa was an extremely empathetic person, and since if was coming from Inui, Fuji believed it.

In all honesty, it did not take them long to locate Nakamura, after which Fuji looked torn between grabbing Asa and forcibly dragging the girl away (preferably to the other end of the festival) or following through with their original plan and cheering him up. "Hello, Nakamura-sempai!" Asa said cheerily, and was rewarded with a sulky glare.

Fuji's frown tightened, deepened, and darkened, and he was itching to go through with his former option, although Asa moved before he could even start to carry through with it.

Nakamura had turned around to leave, only to be forcibly dragged back by Asa, who had grabbed his hand and was now tugging him in the direction of the heart of the festival. "Mou… don't run away!" she pouted, looking pretty sulky herself. "How are you supposed to enjoy the festival if you don't participate?" she asked, putting all of her strength into moving him, succeeding only for the first two inches. "Fuji-kun… help me!" she whined, looking hopefully up at him. "The more the merrier, isn't it?"

Fuji sighed, shaking his head in defeat. In the end, it always seemed that Asa was able to convince him into doing things he previously hadn't wanted to do because they were a waste of his energy. "If you say so," he offered, trotting after the two as Asa weaved her way through the crowds.

"Fuji-kun and I have already spent two hours and we _still_ haven't gone through everything in the festival!" Asa was chattering happily to her upperclassman, maintained an iron grip on his wrist lest he get into his head the idea of breaking free and bolting away (Nakamura would have to admit that the thought had crossed his mind multiple times), frequently checking over her shoulder to make sure that Fuji was still following. Whenever he lagged behind, she would pause, waiting patiently as Fuji caught up, and when he did, she'd start chatting again, picking easy subjects that both boys could converse in and put in their two cents worth. It was in this way that they browsed through the rest of the festival.

Next to one of the stalls that sold food, Atobe leaned against the smooth woodwork. He was standing with Yumiko, Nakamura's mother, and Asa's father, and all four of them were watching the trio as they moved along. "Frankly speaking, Atobe-kun, I'm impressed," Nakamura's mother finally spoke up, breaking the silence that surrounded the four silent watchers. "You and Tezuka-kun are very perceptive. And you, too, Fuji-chan… you are quite perceptive, as well."

Both Yumiko and Atobe bowed to her in acknowledgement on her praise. Asa's father pushed his glasses further up his nose, looking thoughtfully after her daughter. "Maa… she's stranger than I first thought," he said, laughing lightly, earning himself strange looks from the other three. What normal father called his daughter 'strange?' "When you look at her, she just looks like any other average girl at a festival, but she's honestly worrying about those two that she's dragging along after her. I wonder how many times Fuji-kun's tried to get her to confess her worries to him?" He tilted his head curiously to the side, smiling brightly.

Yumiko smiled softly, watching her little brother twitch as Nakamura accidently bumped into him when Asa tried to maneuver all three of them through a particularly narrow space… and failed miserably, backtracking and then proceeding to shove them through said space one by one. Not that the two seemed to mind: Fuji was making some joke as he trotted through, which Asa answered cheerfully and Nakamura mumbled something as he followed, the faintest shadow of a smile on his lips. "Syusuke always said that my card reading skills are frightening," she said brightly, brushing back a lock of her brown hair from her face.

Atobe tilted his head to one side, yawning as he did so. He was tired; going home soon would be nice, he decided. "Nakamura-san… I finished the preparations that you wanted. We can proceed as planned." He huffed, then, crossing his arms over his chest. "Ore-sama does not like to wait, though," he grumbled, looking sulky, which the other three had to admit looked quite adorable on him.

"Good things come to those who wait, Atobe-kun," they scolded mildly, causing him to huff some more, much to their amusement.

There was a blast of sound at that moment, cutting off all further chance for conversation as their attention was turned to the sky. Bright bursts of color filled the sky as the fireworks were turned on. "Is it that time already?" Nakamura's mother murmured, looking up, the fireworks illuminating her face as she did so.

Not more than two stalls away, Asa, Fuji, and Nakamura stared up in wonder at the colorful display of lights. Asa's eyes were shining, not just from the reflected light, and she nearly dropped her poor goldfish (whom she had decided to name Kenta no more than five minutes ago) in her excitement. "It's pretty!" she said happily. _Ah! I thought of a wish!_

She hurriedly excused herself from her friends, handing Kenta over to a puzzled Fuji and then dashing off. "Don't you want to see the fireworks?" Fuji called after her, and got a wave in response. "Mattaku…" he sighed. "Where is she running off to, now?" he asked, exasperated, but looking bemused at the same time.

A few moments later, Asa reappeared through the crowd, bouncing over to him and Nakamura. "Tadaima!" she announced, face glowing proudly.

Nakamura raised an eyebrow at her. "And just where did you vanish off to, Ijuuin-chan?" he asked.

She smiled brightly at him, looking like a cat that had just caught a bird. "Secret!" she sang out, and had to dodge away as both Nakamura and Fuji lounged at her, intent on getting her to spill her secret. "Mou… you two are so mean," she sulked, sticking out her tongue impudently at them. "Nya!"

She was rewarded with laughter and bright smiles, and smiled softly as she watched her friends, chuckling to herself. _And to think that just moments ago they were frowning and glaring at each other,_ she thought happily, rocking back onto her heels.

_See? It's not so hard to get along and smile, is it? _Her soft smile turned into a happy grin as she turned back to the fireworks, watching as the rest of the colors gradually faded away into the dark sky.

***

The Monday after Tanabata Festival, Asa was skipping happily down the street after school, headed for home. She didn't have a shift at the sweet shop that day, so she was headed straight for home with the intention of enjoying her afternoon. She was in a happy mood, seeing as her goldfish, Kenta, had taken quite well to his fish bowl, and Seika had not showed any interest in eating him. When Miho had heard about this, she had instantly started grumbling about how Oshitari's Mi-chan would have long devoured the goldfish.

'So what about your goldfish?' Asa had asked, her head tipped to the side as they sat in class.

'She's in a specially fortified tank, surrounded by an anti-cat maze, and kept behind locked doors and windows!' Miho had announced proudly.

Somehow, Asa had a feeling that that was something Miho would have said, so she wasn't all too surprised…

"Ijuuin-chan! Ijuuin-chan!" Calls of her name made her turn around, and she found Nakamura running towards her, waving cheerily. "Thanks for waiting, Ijuuin-chan!"

"Ah… it's alright…" _I guess,_ she added in her mind. What exactly did one say in a situation like this? She had not a clue. "Did you want something?" she asked curiously.

Nakamura laughed softly, albeit a bit nervously. "Ah… when you put it like that… there are actually three things I want."

"Eh? Three?"

"Does that make me seem selfish?" he asked, looking embarrassed. But when she hastily reassured him that he was fine, he grinned at her. "So, would you like to hear the things I want?" he asked hopefully.

"Well… that would be the point, right?" she asked, smiling cheerfully at him. "So… what are the three things that Nakamura-sempai wants?"

Nakamura looked thoughtful. "Let me see how I put this," he murmured, as the two of them started walking. "The first thing I want is to thank you for what happened at Tanabata. I had a really fun time. Thank you, Ijuuin-chan." He smiled, and it struck Asa that he would look really nice if he only smiled a bit more. _Actually, he might have a lot of fans,_ she thought, _enough to possibly rival Atobe-kun or any of the others._

"It's alright! I'm glad I was able to help. Everyone deserves to smile at a festival, ne?"

"True, true," Nakaumura agreed. "The second thing I want is the right to call you by your first name."

Asa blinked, coming to a halt. "My… first name?" she echoed, looking surprised.

Nakamura faltered, deflating slightly. "Is that a no, then?"

"N-no! I mean… yes… I mean… uh!" she groaned in frustration. This wasn't working out; her words were jumbling inside of her mouth so that they came out in an incomprehensible mess. "I mean… it's perfectly fine if you call me by my first name. It'll be less formal than 'Ijuuin-chan,' I suppose…" she muttered, staring up at the sky with a finger on her chin as she started walking again.

Nakamura smiled again, looking relieved. "I'm glad, Asa-chan." Asa blinked again, a slight flush appearing on her cheeks before it vanished. "Anyway, the third thing I want… it's a touchier subject then the first two." He suddenly looked very serious. "Asa-chan, even though the omiai stated that we're engaged, it's nothing if neither of us doesn't feel anything for the other right?"

_Somehow… I feel like I've heard that before,_ Asa thought, but nodded for him to continue.

"And… I'll admit, at first I thought this whole thing was a chore and a nuisance. I thought that you were just a girl that would be self-centered and have a penchant for the rare and glamorous things that most girls of higher class seem to like. In short, I thought you were going to be a brat."

Asa twitched. _Self-centered? Likes glamorous things? Brat? I can't believe this guy…!_

"But, it turned out you weren't a brat or anything like those other girls are. In a way, I'm glad. After I got to know you, you've become someone that I feel will seriously take all of my problems, even though we haven't had very many chances to talk to each other face-to-face."

_Well… if you feel like that, I don't think there's much I can do to change it, is there?_ Asa asked in her mind, although she remained silent. _Isn't this an odd place to have a heart-to-heart, though? _She glanced around; they were standing on the sidewalk in one of the busiest sectors of Tokyo.

Nakamura persisted with his talk, though, oblivious of the setting. "In the end, I always seem to act like a brat whenever you're looking. It makes me embarrassed, in a sense. You deserve someone who will take your best interests to heart, not someone who needs someone else to look after them. For that, I'm sorry."

_Now he's apologizing for something that isn't really a big issue… I think… although he kind of lost me at the deserving part…_

"Asa-chan, there are only a few months of the semester left, am I right?"

"Hai…" She watched him closely, noting the way he looked suddenly nervous. _I wonder what Nakamura-sempai is so worried about. He seemed fine on all of the other aspects of his talk._

"In these last few months, please allow me to try and open your heart up to me, because I would feel better if my feelings were returned."

"Huh?" Asa uttered stupidly. _That was a confession… a rather weak one, granted, but a confession nonetheless._ "Mou…" she mumbled, collecting herself and rubbing the back of her head, "when you put it that way… I really don't see how I can refuse," she mumbled.

He smiled happily, holding out his hand. "Shall we?" he asked sweetly. "I'll walk you home."

She took his hand (it seemed to be the right thing to do, since it was right in front of her face) and let him start to lead her down the street. "Ah… thanks…" she offered.

On the other side of the street, Fuji watched with narrowed eyes, two bulging bags of groceries at his side, since he had just finished running several errands for his mother. He was radiating such a hateful aura that the other passersby edged their way carefully around him, fearful of unleashing a dangerous monster upon themselves if they so much as looked at him in the wrong way. Fuji's grip on his bags tightened and his hateful aura tripled in intensity.

It did not help matters that Fate had decided to break one of his shopping bags at that exact moment, sending his purchases tumbling to the ground. A sizeable tick mark made its way to his forehead, gradually growing in size and then gaining some friends until the large tick marks were basically dancing above his head.

"SHIMATTA!" he roared, frightening off anyone who was on the street.

And somewhere in Tokyo, there was the sound of shattered glass...

* * *

A/N: I feel like a loser... it took so long to write this and it's not even that good! *sobs*

Actually, I had a lot of ideas and they seemed to work out in my head but as soon as I put them onto paper (or, uh... onto my computer screen...) everything goes wrong. I fail. .'

But...! On the plus side, I did manage to download a lot of my favorite PoT songs, so I suppose I don't fail that much... ^_^

Please **review**! Thank you so much! I'm going to try to wrap this up in the next four or so chapters. Wish me luck; I'll need it. XP


	12. Chapter 11

**_Chapter 11_**

_This is… really awkward…_

The Ijuuin kitchen was dead silent. Time had flown since Tanabata, and now Japan was nearing the New Year season. New Year's was supposed to be a happy time, where the old year could be remembered with fondness and the new year could be welcomed with open arms…

_So… why is there such a stony silence in here…?_

Miho and Eiji had gotten the glorious plan of a great get-together in order to get in the New Year spirit, and had proposed a group feast. 'We'll eat the fruits of our labor,' Eiji had explained, looking exciting. 'We'll pick a house, and then spend the afternoon having a good time and making food! Then we'll hold a great sleepover and go to temple tomorrow morning together!'

Obviously… it didn't matter to Eiji that there would be representatives of both genders at this function of his.

_And of all the houses, it had to be **my** house,_ Asa thought, sighing softly as she cut into a potato with her knife. _Couldn't we have picked a bigger one? Mine is about to explode with all of these people in here…_

Her parents had nearly died of heart attacks when everyone had showed up with their overnight gear at her front door no more than two hours ago, and she had had to go through the ultimately embarrassing talk that nothing was going to happen at night, that Miho and her were going to camp out in her room while the boys took the bottom floor, and that she would train Seika in the next six hours to claw and maim anyone who tried to molest either her or Miho or the twins in the middle of the night (to which Miho had volunteered Oshitari to run home and grab Mi-chan to assist with that plan, much to Oshitari's annoyance). Kurumi had squealed in delight at the sight of Fuji, pounced on him, and then proceeded to cling to him for the rest of the time, consequently making him pretty much useless except to just sit somewhere and… let Kurumi cling to him and squeal. Narumi had simply glanced at her older sister, raised an eyebrow in pity, and shook her head, wishing her the best of luck.

The atmosphere had been tolerable when the twins were in the house. They had circulated around the place (Narumi had, at least), maneuvering expertly through the cramped house, chatting happily with the guests. But now that Kurumi and Narumi were out playing tennis on the street courts, a stony silence had set in. Asa was painfully aware of Fuji's blue eyes boring into her back, almost as if Fuji wanted to see straight to her soul. He was radiating an indefinable aura, one that everyone was wary of, and so they were silent, watching from the sidelines nervously in case Fuji suddenly exploded on them like a volcano.

To say the least, this whole thing was beginning to freak her out…

_And why is no one helping me in the kitchen? Whose idea was this in the first place…?_ She could feel a rare tick mark beginning to form at the unfairness of all of this.

"Um… what are we supposed to do, now?" Choutarou asked nervously, feeling the tense atmosphere around him. Apparently, Eiji and Miho had managed to get the younger players to come, including Echizen (although the rookie was sulking and not looking too thrilled).

Asa turned around, a dark aura around her that matched Fuji's silent one in intensity and scariness. "How about you guys doing some work instead of taking up space on the floor?" she said pleasantly, although her voice was dripping with venom. They squeaked and scrambled to obey, and Asa sighed again. Honestly… this was strange on so many levels…

The kettle sounded on the stove, and she made her way over to it, turning off the stove and pouring out many cups of tea (nineteen in total. Asa was surprised that there was even nineteen teacups in the first place). "Tea, anyone?" she asked, all traces of her previous rage gone ('She's like a tropical storm that comes and goes in a flash,' Gakuto muttered to Momo). "It's just green tea; we don't have anything fancy," she apologized with Atobe took a cup.

Blue-gray eyes stared lazily up at her's before Atobe shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he drawled, sipping regally from his cup.

Asa twitched, feeling the need to become a 'tropical storm' once again. For some reason or another, her patience was limited that day.

However, on the plus side, at least the tense atmosphere had dispersed and was replaced with a lighter one.

"Don't mind Atobe," Oshitari said evenly, taking a cup of tea for himself and one for Oishi (the two had struck up a conversation about something or another and had turned it into an animated debate). "Atobe probably feels like he's humbled himself by coming over to take part in this event. I don't think anyone imagined spending New Year's like this."

"Ah… you're right," Asa murmured. She, for one, would never have predicted that _this_ was what would happen to her over New Year's. "Jiroh-kun, please don't sleep in the kitchen while the stove is on and something's cooking in the pot on top of it!" she squeaked, shoving the tray of teacups and teapot over to Kaidoh before scrambling to rescue her kitchen before something went into flames or was burnt. "Mattaku, Jiroh-kun, there's a couch if you really want to sleep. Just please don't fall asleep in the kitchen anymore," she begged the sleeping Jiroh as she started dragging him, with difficulty, out of the kitchen. Kabaji helped her, depositing Jiroh on the couch while Asa scampered off to find a blanket.

Miho glanced over the edge of her teacup as her friend vanished into the closet and started rummaging around in it. "Maa, maa… Asa-chan tries so hard," she piped up cheerily. "She needs to relax! It's New Year's!"

"Relaxing in this sort of situation is easier said than done," Echizen grumbled, frowning at his tea. He was promptly glomped upon by Eiji, and general chaos ensued as Echizen tried in vain to pry the happy redhead off of him, only to be joined by a suddenly awakened Jiroh who was all of a sudden super energetic.

Asa reappeared from the closet with the blanket, her blue eyes sweeping over the chaos that was her living room, supposedly, and she sighed, deciding that it wasn't worth risking her life to set foot into the room. "They're so energetic," she said, smiling slightly as she slipped back into the kitchen, where Choutarou and Taka were making dinner. "Gomen, Kawamura-kun, Choutarou-kun. I'll do it and you two can join everyone else." She set the blanket on the back of a chair and moved to help, but was stopped by two sets of hands.

"Don't worry about it!" Choutarou said brightly. "It's much quieter in here than out there; one can actually think." The junior high senior smiled as he returned to the carrot he was cutting. "Although… we would get a lot more work done in a shorter amount of time if there were more people helping," he mused, looking thoughtful. "Maybe if we…"

He was abruptly cut off when Shishido, Echizen, Atobe, and Tezuka shoved unceremoniously into the kitchen by the rest of the members. "Um… hi…" the three already in the kitchen mumbled, looking puzzled. "Did you need something?"

Shishido pushed himself up, throwing a dirty glare at the people who were still in the living room. "We're supposed to help with making dinner," he grumbled. No way was he going to admit that he had minimum experience with home economics. Not in front of Choutarou…

However, even without him blurting out his new life-secret, the silver haired boy seemed to understand his culinary inabilities. "Ijuuin-san… will this work out alright?" Choutarou asked worriedly.

If Asa could sweatdrop like the characters in an anime could, she would have a long, long time ago… because somehow, she had a bad feeling about letting them into the kitchen…

_I hope everything works out somehow…_

***

Fuji was flipping idly through the channels on the TV, lounging on the couch, watching the shows with a bored expression on his usually smiling face and listening half-heartedly to the arguments going on in the kitchen ('Ore-sama cannot be bothered with such trivial actions like cooking!' 'Probably 'cause you can't even _turn on_ the stove.' 'Don't let your guard down!' 'Mada mada dane.').

He yawned, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand as he passed the remote to Momo, who promptly switched the channel to one that showed how to cook _real_ and _edible_ food. Thus his junior was occupied for the next half hour.

If anything that came out of that kitchen actually_ looked_ like food, than it would be a miracle, Fuji decided, watching with slight bemusement as Taka, Choutarou, and Asa tried to regain control of the kitchen (they had recruited Eiji, Oshitari, and Miho to their cause, since those three could actually cook). He chuckled faintly, and a rather uneventful hour passed before the doorbell rang, waking him up from where he had sat and dozed off.

He stood, bouncing up energetically and blinking the last of sleep out of his eyes. "I'll get it!" he chirped and then trotted over to the door, stepping over Hiyoshi and Kaidoh, who had unearthed and were playing a board game, to make it to the front door. "Hi! Can I help you?" he asked, pulling the door open to reveal an old lady. Her silver hair was collected at the back of her head in a neat bun, and a pair of half-rimmed spectacles was perched on her nose, allowing bright sea-colored eyes to stare up at him. She was dressed in the traditional yukata (which struck Fuji as rather strange since most people didn't where yukatas outside of festivals and onsens) with a heavy coat over it and held a rather large duffel bag in her hand.

"My…" she murmured, staring up at him, eyes twinkling with excitement, "if it isn't a boy."

"Ah… hai…" mumbled Fuji. _This is a… strange lady,_ he thought, feeling self-conscious as she scrutinized him from head to toe with a critical eye.

"I didn't know this was her taste," she muttered, and Fuji could only wonder what on earth she was talking about. "In any case, would you mind getting Ijuuin Asa-chan for me, young man? That would be a great help."

"Are you sure you wouldn't just like to come inside?" Fuji asked automatically, although he regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. The poor old lady would probably die of shock from seeing all of the people they had managed to pack into the house, not to mention the sorry state that the kitchen was in (and this time Fuji could proudly say that he had had no part in its destruction whatsoever).

"Fuji-kun, you'll catch a fever if you stand in the open doorway with no coat. It's not summer anymore, you know." Fuji jumped, turning around to find Asa with a bowl of salad (a rather large bowl, he noted with a slight quirk of his lips). "Besides, heating doesn't come cheap these days, you know," she teased, smiling brightly.

"Hai…" Fuji mumbled, feeling his cheeks start to warm up despite his best efforts. _Stop smiling, Aa-chan!_

"Ah! Asa!" Suddenly, Fuji was elbowed roughly to the side as the old lady shoved past him. _Man… she's surprisingly strong,_ he thought ruefully. If he had been surprised then, though, he was much more surprised with Asa's reaction. The girl had literally frozen up and was gaping as the old lady marched towards her, disregarding all other people in the house.

"O-o-obaa-sama!" she finally squeaked out as the old lady launched herself forward, glomping her tightly. Her squeaking increased as the salad bowl was forcefully ejected from her arms upon impact. Fuji gasped, lounging forward, somehow managing to grab the bowl and keep all of its contents in it without spilling as much as a single leaf _and_ without tripping over anyone in the process. Fuji was quite proud of himself, actually. "Obaa-sama… you're crushing my ribs…" Honestly, being spry at such an age was a good thing, but why was her grandmother _so_ energetic?

"Gomen, gomen, Asa," her grandmother said cheerily, letting go of her (much to Asa's relief). "Hmm? You have a lot of boys over."

Asa flushed bright red. "They're friends. Only friends," she said hurriedly. "Get those thoughts out of your head, Obaa-sama." There was a dangerous gleam in those mischievous eyes of her grandmother's, and she didn't quite like it.

"Well, the very essence of a boyfriend is to have a friend that's a boy," teased the older woman. Asa suddenly looked like she would have loved to strangle her relative.

"We finished!" came a gasp from the kitchen, and then the four boys forced on kitchen duty straggled out of the kitchen, looking utterly exhausted. "And everything looks safe to eat! It's all good!" There was chuckling heard throughout the house, and they looked indignant.

"Oh, we have a guest?" Oshitari asked, shedding the apron he had been forced to wear. "It's rude to not introduce a guest to the other guests. Keeping them just to yourself is cruel of you, Asa-chan."

"I've never heard of that before," Asa grumbled, sighing as Oshitari got everyone's attention. "Obaa-sama, meet the Regulars of the Hyotei and Seigaku tennis teams," she said, turning to her grandmother. "Guys, this is my grandmother, Ijuuin Sakura."

"Hello!" they said dutifully, although Oshitari and Atobe looked thoughtful.

"You would be the Ijuuin Sakura that started the company that the Ijuuin family and Oshitari family jointly run, am I correct?" Atobe asked, earning a small laugh from the lady in agreement. The Hyotei members froze.

"Eh? No way! You never told us that your grandmother was a business tycoon!"

"She's not anymore! She's retired!"

"But still…! To withhold such crucial information… how could you be so cruel?"

"Yuushi's right! Stop acting like the idiots from Seigaku!"

"What did you call us? Do you want to pick a fight?"

"We're guests, you guys… please refrain from acts of extreme violence…"

"My, my… it's not often to see Asa with so many friends." Fuji glanced down at the old lady from where they stood at the edge of the fray, confusion written on his face. She smiled up at him. "Asa was never able to make friends, see," she explained patiently to him. "As a family, we weren't sure whether it was her background or her illness, but she tended to hang out on her own for the majority of the time. But people are by nature pack animals and so function the best with the presence of others. Thank you for looking after her as a friend and I hope that you will continue to do so." Her smile widened, and it struck Fuji that it was the same smile Asa wore on her face most of the time. She must have inherited it from her grandmother.

Eiji was on him before he could open his mouth to answer, startling Fuji enough for him to open his eyes and show off the clear blue color. "Don't worry, don't worry, nya!" Eiji said happily, clamping his hands over Fuji's mouth to ensure that the boy uttered not a peep. "We look after Aa-chan and she looks after the rest of us! That's how it goes!"

"Is not," Asa and Miho muttered as one in a quiet corner of the house, but no one listened to them, and so the two girls heaved sighs.

"Ne… Miho-chan…"

"What's wrong?"

"We're doing this at your house next year if we're ever doing this again… you actually have chefs who know what they're doing at your house. My kitchen looks like a tornado, a hurricane, and an earthquake ripped through it."

There was a moment of silence as Miho considered what her friend said. "You forgot tsunami," Miho finally reminded her, smiling cheerfully, and Asa wondered why she had even bothered bringing up the topic or let these people invite themselves over.

***

Asa glanced down at her sheet of paper, onto which she and Miho had scribbled down a set of rules that would be reinforced (or so she hoped) that night. "So, the rules of the house are these," she announced, glancing at the assembled boys in front of her.

"One: no breaking the furniture, no matter how little it is."

In the back of the room, there was a crashing sound as a sleeping Jiroh fell off of his chair, bumping into a lamp and sending it flying. Eiji and Gakuto dove for the lamp, their heads coming together to make a dangerous sounding 'crack.' A startled Oishi turned around only to have the lamp land on his stomach, sending him tumbling backwards and setting off a domino effect throughout the rest of the boys sitting on the ground. Although the lamp survived, Asa highly doubted that many of the boys did.

"Um… two: the first aid kit is in the first cabinet left of the sink in the kitchen."

Choutarou, being the kind and gentle soul that he was, left immediately to get the first aid kit for his ailing teammates and upperclassmen. As soon as he stepping into the kitchen, however, he promptly slipped on egg yolk that was on the floor, careened into an intimidating stack of clean pots and pans (that had taken Miho and Eiji more than an hour of scrubbing and stacking), and came to a crashing halt at the counter, sending the clean dishes that were drying into the sink, making them dirty again (miraculously, none of them broke). There was then his panicked shout of "Oh, I'm so sorry!" and Shishido hurried to help him, ultimately meeting the same fate as Choutarou did.

Asa drooped. She knew she should have cleaned that kitchen by herself, instead of letting Eiji and Miho do it…

She also knew that if she hadn't let Shishido, Echizen, Atobe, and Tezuka into the kitchen in the first place earlier that evening, she wouldn't be having this problem, now.

"Three," she sighed, "just try to stay alive." _I give up._

It wasn't until well past midnight when Asa crept back into the kitchen, getting onto her hands and knees and then proceeding to diligently scrub her kitchen, intent on making it shine in all of its former glory. Thankfully, her parents hadn't blown up in her face when they found the kitchen in its messy state (perhaps it was the fact that her grandmother was there and telling them that being angry had no place in a sleepover function, or it was because she had stuffed food into their mouths and forcibly shut them up… she wasn't quite sure). _If I work quickly and quietly, everyone can still be asleep by the time I'm done, _she thought, shooting a glance in the direction of the living room, where the soft sounds of snoring reached her ears and her eyes could pick out the dark rises from the ground as the sleeping forms of her guests in their futons (Miho was bunking with her in her own room, watched over by the ever-attentive Seika, who was a little, snoring, white ball of fluff on her pillow).

_Maa… who knew that the living room was so large if all of the furniture was removed?_ It had been frighteningly easy to fit everyone's futons onto the living room floor when they moved the coffee table to the dining room and pushed the couches to the wall. _I suppose it's a good thing,_ she thought, smiling slightly to herself as she scrubbed.

"Aa-chan, what are you doing?" came a sleepy mumble from the doorway to the kitchen as she was finishing up. Asa jumped, turning around to see Fuji. He was still half-asleep, seeming to straddle the land of his dreams and the land of reality, rubbing his eyes tiredly with the back of his hand. They were open, showing the sleep-clouded blue orbs, and his hair stuck out in odd directions. He actually looked quite funny and… adorable, she guessed? "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Fuji asked, a huge yawn nearly cutting off the last of his sentence as he plopped himself down in a chair.

"Shouldn't _you_ be?" she asked back, wringing out her cloth in water and then giving one final wipe with clear water on her now clean floor. Oh… she dearly loved clean kitchens. "Do you want anything? I could get you something to drink."

He shook his head stubbornly, blinking the last bits of sleep away from his eyes. "No thanks," he sighed.

Asa stopped, looking up at him worriedly. "Oh. Is there something else you wanted, then? I could get you an extra blanket if you're cold…"

He smiled slightly. "Not cold, but thanks again. My futon's nice and warm."

"Then why are you up?"

"Eh… that's a really good question." The truth of the matter was that he had been sleeping peacefully until he had been forcibly pounced upon and shaken awake. The next thing he had known, he was standing at the kitchen doorway, his sleep-fogged mind not quite comprehending what had just happened to him. And now he was having a one-on-one talk with Asa after having avoided her and making himself scarce in her presence for the last few months, although the fact that both of them were wearing their pajamas downgraded the seriousness of the situation. All of a sudden, all of the things he had wanted to say to her that he had brainstormed fled his brain, and he was left with staring stupidly off into space while she wrung out her cloth, setting it aside to dry and washing her hands.

_And they call me a genius,_ Fuji sighed to himself, planting his chin in his hands. Geniuses didn't act all flustered because of a single person. He made for a pretty stupid genius.

"Getting enough sleep is important for growing children," Asa remarked, casting a quick glance around the kitchen, hands planted on her hips.

"I'm not a child anymore," Fuji argued sulkily, standing up. A thought had suddenly crossed his mind, and he was currently deciding whether or not he should carry through with it or bury it away somewhere at the edge of his consciousness. "Ne, Aa-chan… could you…" he trailed off, looking embarrassed.

"Could I what?"

"Well… since it's the first day of the new year, could you grant a selfish desire of mine? It shouldn't take more than a minute… two at most."

She was thoroughly puzzled, but nodded her head. "Sure. What is it?" she asked, curious in spite of herself as he walked toward her.

"Hush. It's just a selfish desire of mine, nothing more," he said softly, leaning forward so that he could speak straight into her ear, his bangs leaving his eyes in shadow. She frowned, feeling a shiver pass through her spine. In the next instant, she was being hugged, tightly, while Fuji's mouth was covering her own. So surprised was she that she didn't quite manage to close her mouth before Fuji's tongue slipping in there, exploring. His kiss was hungry and so desperate that it surprised her that this was actually Fuji, and not someone else.

_I should have known something like this would happen,_ she grumbled to herself, resigning herself to the fact that prying Fuji off of her was going to be impossible. This was _Fuji_, after all, and Fuji was the boy who stole her first kiss, gave her her first confession, and was the first boy she had really opened up to. She should have been able to see that something of this sort would come up sooner or later.

_Since I'm stuck here I might as well enjoy it,_ she thought to herself, closing her eyes before opening them again. She had caught some movement behind Fuji, near the doorway, and peering through the wisps of his soft hair, she could just make out little heads peeking into the kitchen.

_Oh… it's just everyone else… _she thought, relaxing, before frowning._ Wait a minute…_

This must have been the first time in her life in which she was glad that she had a small build; a smaller build meant that she was more easily shielded from view in… embarrassing situations like this. Except then Fuji was pulling away from her, probably because he needed air (Asa had to say that her oxygen supply had been running low, too, and she was faintly relieved that he chose to break the kiss when he did), although the next thing she felt was little butterfly touches on the edge of her jaw, moving steadily towards her neck.

The little heads in the doorway adopted scandalized looks, and any glasses there were gleamed dangerously. Asa gulped, her face turning a furious red color. "Um…" she uttered out, setting her brain to action. _What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? _She was starting to panic. "Fuji-kun…"

She got no reaction and her panic was starting to escalate. _Mou… if 'Fuji-kun' doesn't work I can always use 'Syusuke,' can't I? Maybe he'll respond if I use his given name, _she theorized, clenching her jaws tightly together to prevent any of 'unwanted' sounds from escaping. He had just reached her neck when she squeaked out a faint "Stop it, Syusuke-kun."

The first thing that came to mind was: _I sound really pathetic._

However, it served its purpose, so she supposed all was good. Fuji jumped and nearly leaped away from her, wide-eyed and cheeks a brilliant shade of cherry red (it was her first time seeing him like that, she noted). At that point, he looked much more panicked than she had been feeling just before. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, looking lost and dejected. "Uh… well… oyasuminasai," he said hastily before bolting. The heads vanished away from view as Fuji rounded the corner and there was a huge crash, followed by:

"Oi, Fuji! What on earth were you thinking?! Were you even thinking at all?!"

"Fujiko~~! We didn't know you were like that, nya!"

"Ii data…"

"And here Ore-sama was thinking you'd make a civilized attempt at talking…"

"Mada mada dane, Fuji-sempai."

"Fuji, five hundred laps around the neighborhood when dawn breaks."

Asa sighed, exasperated. What were they? Five? But a hand fell gently on her shoulder when she tried to move forward. She turned around and nearly had the scare of her life when she saw her grandmother standing there, smiling softly at her. "Leave them be," she coaxed gently. "Boys will be boys, no matter how old they are."

"I suppose," Asa mumbled, glancing out of the kitchen where Fuji's interrogation was still going on in full-swing. "Honestly, though… who knew that _that_ was their motive in the first place?"

She blinked suddenly, turning back to her grandmother, who was now smiling impishly at her. "How'd you get down here in the first place, Obaa-sama?" she asked skeptically.

That impish grin grew wider. "Kim-it-su~~!" she sang out happily. For an instant, Asa imagined horns appearing on her grandmother's head.

_I need sleep. Sleep is good for the soul._

"Oyasuminasai, Obaa-sama," she said hastily and made her escape, leaving a smiling grandmother behind her, who dropped her smile the moment Asa was out of sight. Instead, she looked worried, and so very, very old. She had seen and understood the situation almost immediately, quite by accident. She hadn't intended on spying on her granddaughter, having simply woken up and wanted a cup of tea.

_Fuji Syusuke, was it? And he seemed like such a nice boy…_ The old lady made herself her tea and sipped it quietly, eyes troubled. _I can see why that son of mine wanted me to come to Tokyo so badly, now, I believe._ She blew into her tea, watching the wisps of steam curl off of its top before sipping. _Tomorrow morning… I imagine that I'd like a nice chat with this Fuji Syusuke boy._

She smiled sadly in the direction of the living room, where the boys had finally settled down and were going back to sleep. _I'd hate to break up such a promising friendship, but if I need to be, I will become a devil. Because that's what grandmothers do, isn't it?_ She finished off her tea and headed back to bed, casting one last glance at the living room. _A grandmother needs to protect her grandchildren, just like a mother does. There is no other explanation to it._

_I will get rid of anything that can and will hurt Asa, so that her smile will never be burdoned down with pain._

* * *

A/N: You know... I always wanted to write something like that. XD You know... bring in a grandmother character that is all sweet and innocent (and a bit spontaneous and possibly senile) on the outside but on the inside is driven to protect those she loves, no matter what the cost. Eh... basically a female Fuji. ^_^ If you don't like her, she'll be gone by the end of the next chapter and you'll never see her again! I think this is the affect of too many chocolate bars...

**Review**, please! Thank you!

Oyasuminasai = good-night  
Kimitsu = secrecy / secret


	13. Chapter 12

**_Chapter 12_**

Fuji was terribly quiet that morning when they all trekked over to the temple, and it was not simply for lack of sleep. All of the boys knew the reason for his lack of spirit that morning, but Miho and Asa were oblivious. Every once in a while they would ask him what was wrong, worried, and he would simply give a shake of his head and paste a smile onto his face, trying to be reassuring.

Neither of the two was very reassured.

At the temple, they went in groups of three so as to not swamp the poor place, telling the gods their wishes and clapping their hands, heads bowed and eyes closed.

Fuji almost fell asleep when it was his turn, and had to have been poked in the sides by Eiji and given a quick shake of his shoulder from Tezuka. Looking dazed, the honey-haired boy left the shrine.

"Are you absolutely sure you're alright?" Asa asked him as he came to stand besides her. She really didn't like how his face looked; pale and worn, with darker areas starting to form underneath his eyes. "You're not sick or anything? Getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of fluids is the key to maintaining a healthy body. Are you sure you're not dehydrated, by any chance…?"

At one time, Fuji would have been more than happy to have Asa fussing over him, he noted drily, shaking his head to her assumptions and watching her worry increase by tenfold with each shake. She was a good Oishi-substitute, he decided. But currently, his mind was preoccupied, and he paid her no more attention than he would have a bird flying overhead, intent on getting to its nest. That morning, he had woken up after a troubled sleep to find Asa's grandmother waiting for him, and they had talked. She had called it 'breaking the ice.'

To Fuji, it had more or less been Hell on earth, or should he say, Hell in the Ijuuin household kitchen. She was relentless in her questions, picked apart each and every one of his answers, scolded him, chided him, and praised him all in one sentence. She played mind games, just as Fuji did, but her's were so much more intense, the aura she emitted was so much more dangerous than one that Fuji had ever before emitted himself. She was insightful, more so than Atobe (even with his Insight and World of Ice), and she had forced Fuji to reveal facts that he had felt were better off being hidden, known to him only.

Ijuuin Sakura was a dangerous force to be reckoned with, and frankly, Fuji was surprised that he was still alive after that ordeal. Had she been a general in a war and the head of an army, the opposing one would have been all slaughtered, and any survivors would have crawled away, tail tucked between their legs, hating the name 'Ijuuin Sakura' yet dreading it with a fear indescribable and unsurpassable.

Indeed, Asa's grandmother was a one-man army, innocently silent but one that struck with a godly force.

"Let's stop at the sweet shop!" Miho suddenly announced, in an attempt to lighten up the mood. "Didn't Gakuto-kun mention something about specials once? Let's see if there's a New Year's Special!"

Asa perked up, nodding happily. "I think there is… we should definitely go! It's not that far; we'll be close enough to walk after two stops with the subway." And so they trooped over to the subway, chattering among themselves. There was a mild scuffle at the ticket booth over who would buy tickets (no one seemed to take the subway enough to have a subway pass). The Hyoutei members seemed keen on Atobe paying, with Atobe grumbling something underneath his breath about how he wasn't the only rich member in their group. Poor Eiji had to treat both Momo and Echizen, but when he noticed Oishi offering to pay for Miho's ticket (Miho having spent her pocket money on goo-luck charms at the temple for all of them) he instantly shoved his doubles partner aside and paid for hers, as well.

"Is it a privilege only the boyfriend gets?" Asa asked, raising an eyebrow, looking mildly amused while Miho chuckled lightly next to her.

"Hai, hai," Miho said brightly. Her impish expression brightened, if that was at all possible, and she poked Fuji in the side. "Ne, ne, Fuji-kun, you should totally use the boyfriend privilege with Asa-chan!" She ignored Asa's protests of "Miho-chan! What are you talking about?!" and shoved Fuji towards the booth. Asa scrambled away from her to stop Fuji before he could do anything.

Asa grumbled under her breath about her friend as she stood next to Fuji. Honestly, she had money! She could buy her own ticket! Furthermore, Fuji-kun wasn't her boyfriend. End of discussion. She sighed, rubbing her temples.

Fuji's light chuckling brought her out of her silent cloud of complaints. "Saa… you're acting a lot like Tezuka, Aa-chan," he teased, smiling softly.

Asa offered a small grin. "Am I?" she asked. Fuji nodded, pulling out his wallet from his pocket and stepping up to the lady behind the booth.

"Two Tokyo Metro Open Tickets," Fuji announced. The lady nodded, smiling, handing over the two tickets while Fuji handed over the money, turning to Asa so that the two could leave the line. He brushed aside her attempts to pay him back, laughing lightly. "Aa-chan, 710 yen for a ticket is nothing. Besides, it's New Year's. Can't I treat you?"

She huffed, seeing that she was fighting for a lost cause. "Fine, fine," she grumbled, looking like a child deprived of her candy, "But I'm paying for the return trip!"

Blue eyes gleamed. Was that a challenge he heard in her voice? "Saa… whoever gets to the booth first pays for the return trip," Fuji said smoothly. "And it's not going to be you, that's for sure." She glared sulkily at him, snatching her ticket and marching to the platform, a laughing Fuji trailing behind him.

_Well… at least he's not so distant anymore,_ Asa sighed as she waited for the subway. Gakuto and Shishido had gotten into an argument. Oishi and Choutarou had hurried over to break them apart, and Atobe and Tezuka pretended that they didn't know any one of the boys. Momo and Echizen were giving Eiji a full explanation on why he should pay for their tickets on the return trip, while Miho and Oshitari were playing a prank on a hapless Hiyoshi and an unsuspecting Kaidoh.

_Who knew so much stuff could happen in the three minutes that one waits for the subway?_

Fuji had slipped back into his silent, brooding state, and Asa turned to him, brows furrowed in worry. She would have imagined him to have padded over to Miho and Oshitari and join them in their pranking, but he was still standing besides her, a sullen look on his usually smiling face. "Fuji-kun," she murmured, tugging at his arm. He turned to her, looking curious. "Are you sure everything's alright? You've been much too quiet today."

Fuji tilted his head to one side, regarding her carefully. When he spoke, his words were carefully chosen, his voice guarded of emotion. It frightened Asa. This was a Fuji that she did not know. "I just had someone point out to me some… things… to consider," he said, turning his face back to the track, his face an unreadable mask.

"Oh," Asa squeaked out. "Oh, I see." Except she didn't see. She had no idea what her friend was talking about. Unless…

"Did Obaa-sama have anything to do with this?" she asked abruptly. Fuji started, but said nothing. Even still, it was enough of an answer, and Asa sighed, shaking her head while her hands made their ways to her hips. "Don't take anything Obaa-sama says to heart," she sighed. "While she means well most of the things she says can be ignored. Don't let it bother you."

Fuji chuckled quietly. Trust it to be Asa to worry about him. "It's alright," he offered, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "She was quite surprising, that's all. I could almost use the word 'intimidating,' or perhaps I should go with something stronger?" His head tilted in the opposite direction. "She's a frightening dragon, your Obaa-sama," he said softly.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through one of Obaa-sama's lectures, Fuji-kun," Asa apologized. Having been the recipient of some of those lectures herself and having to watch others go through it, she knew how hard it could get. Her grandmother was frighteningly intense.

"Ah… it's alright, I can take it," Fuji replied. The subway came at that time, drowning out what he was going to say next. In a way, he was glad, because on an afterthought he probably would have been too embarrassed to say it straight to her face.

Climbing onto the subway after Asa and finding a pole to stand at since all the seats were taken, Fuji watched her chatting cheerfully with Choutarou about the sweet shop. His smile brightened as he leaned against the pole, bracing himself as the train lurched forward. His unspoken sentence repeated itself in his mind:

_I can take it because I love you._

***

"'New Year's Special: Everybody-friendly Latté,'" Miho read off of a sign that was erected just outside of the sweet shop's front door. Her head tilted to the side as she regarded the sign. "What makes a latté everybody-friendly?" she asked, puzzled.

"A latté is a shortened version of the Italian caffelatte, which quite literally means 'coffee and milk,'" Asa explained. Working at the sweet shop hadn't all been for nothing; she had quite a bit of knowledge in coffee and teas, now. "But because it's best for children to avoid caffeine and thus not drink coffee, the coffee portion of this latté will probably have been replaced with hot cocoa. A greater amount of hot milk will be added to balance for the added sweetness, but it will be served in the same style as a regular latté. For the children, a dollop of cream will most likely be added on top to appease their sweet teeth."

Eiji's eyes were shining by the time Asa had finished with her speculation about what the New Year's Special was, and he literally dragged them all inside the door. Fuji chuckled at his friend's excited behavior.

"That's one person with a sweet tooth," he said, following the excited redhead and his luggage (five people… Fuji wondered how he was able to grab that many with only two hands) into the shop.

He was greeted by the sweet scent of hot chocolate, mixed in the warm scent of cream and the sharper, more fragrant scents of fresh fruit that topped baked cakes. The cakes stood in their display case, proudly bearing their decorations and crowns of fruit. Waitresses carried trays bearing cups of warm drinks; Fuji could see the stream rising gently from the rims as they passed him.

"Saa… I wonder what their Valentine's Special will be," Fuji said cheerily as they found several unoccupied tables to sit at. There followed a brief period of speculation about that special, and then the topic of conversation went to White day Specials while Miho and Asa trotted off to look at cakes, Choutarou tagging along like a puppy.

Presently, a waitress came up to them, smiling brightly and looking rather energetic. "Hello!" she chirped up. "Can I get you anything or would you like to do so yourself later on? We have our New Year's Special, too, at 300 yen per cup, free refills."

Sitting in the corner of the table Eiji was practically glowing. "We'd all like the New Year's Special, please!" he piped up happily, and the waitress nodded, still smiling, counted how many people there were, and trotted off to place their orders, meeting Asa and Miho who had paid for cakes and were headed back for the table.

In any case, Asa was pounced on by the waitress, who looked absolutely thrilled to see her. "You love us so much that you even came on your break!" she squealed, while Asa simply chuckled (albeit a tad bit nervously). Letting go of her, she beamed. "Perfect! I have a favor to ask of you, Ijuuin-chan!"

"A favor?" Asa echoed, slightly wary. Her fellow waitresses meant well but sometimes the favors they asked for were… strange…

"Yes, a favor! It won't take long; you'll be back with your friends in no time!" She grinned like a Cheshire cat, nudging Asa's side with an elbow. "One of them's your boyfriend, ne?"

Asa twitched. "No," she said flatly. The other girl simply shrugged, still grinning impishly while Asa excused herself from her friends and headed for the back room. Why did she have to work on her break? It wasn't fair.

Moments later she emerged, dressed in the waitress uniform, sighing lightly as she went over the 'favor' she had to do in her mind. 'You see that little boy?' the other girl had asked her, gesturing to a table in the way back of the store, tucked away so that at first glance one wouldn't really see it. 'He's been sitting there all alone for an hour, now. Every time someone's gone over to ask if he wants something, he sends them back in tears. He's a frightening child.'

Yes, leave the difficult customers to her. Asa could see a pattern in her work life.

"Ne, teach me how to use the big machine," Asa said abruptly, marching behind the counter, the waitress trailing behind her. "I've never had to use this before and I don't think anyone wants this broken." She grabbed a cup, then some milk.

"You're going to make a Special?"

"I'm going to _try_ to make a Special. Then I'm going to pick a slice of cake. Then I'm going to deal with that kid. That's my plan." The other waitress smiled slightly, leaning forward so that she could show Asa how to work the machine. She caught on fast, both with the machine and the situation. The other employees had started calling Asa the 'hostess' behind her back and directly in her face. The sweet shop saw its fair share of customers that were difficult to please, especially during the holiday seasons, and most of the time Asa had to be called to deal with them.

And deal with them she did, although whether because she wanted to or whether because she couldn't find any way to shake off the pleas of the other employees no one knew for sure.

"Say, Ijuuin-chan, you'd better not schedule a break for Valentine's Day and White Day," she said to Asa as Asa mixed together hot cocoa and scalding hot milk, reaching for the cream as she did so. "I don't think all of us combined can take care of broken hearts."

"And I alone can?" Asa asked, faintly bemused as she took the light cream and added some to the top of the cup, taking a spoon and gently working the cream into a little mountain. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was better than just having it sit atop the cup like a blob. Asa was happy with her handiwork, and turned around to select a slice of cake. "Ring these up under my account," she told the other girl.

Said girl sighed as she obeyed. "And this is why you don't make a penny even though you hold a paying job," she chastised.

"And that's why I can deal with those difficult customers that no one else seems to be able to," Asa shot back in a teasing voice as she loaded her items onto a tray and left. "Don't forget that group of wolves over there," she said, nodding her head in the direction of her friends who were devouring the cakes she and Miho had selected. "A few among them have ferocious sweet teeth." So saying, she headed for the lone boy at the back table.

"Hey," she offered, giving the boy a smile as she set the tray down and unloading the food.

The little one (he must have only been around eight or nine years old, Asa assumed) looked up at her and frowned, looking rather annoyed. "Are all of you waitresses stupid or something?" he asked, in a very arrogant way that reminded Asa of Atobe. "I told you already, I don't want anything that this sloppy shop can offer."

"Stop referring to us as a unit. We are individuals who all happen to hold the same job, in the same shop. What you tell one of us doesn't automatically get relayed to the rest of us via telepathy," Asa explained, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, this is your first time one of these shops, isn't it?" she asked, and the little boy stiffened. "I can tell because your eyes are wide and their shining in wonder. There's probably a cake or two that you want to try, right?"

"Maybe…" This time the voice was small, almost ashamed, as opposed to the former imperialistic voice that had been used.

Asa chuckled lightly, setting the slice of cake down in front of him. "Try this," she coaxed. "There's rice added into the batter, so it gives a pleasant texture in the mouth. It's double-layered with raspberry jam and finished with buttercream frosting." When he hesitated, she smiled slightly. "Go on; it's quite delicious," she encouraged, and he picked up his fork, taking off the tip of the slice of cake and putting it into his mouth.

The other waitresses watched in awe as the little boy, so rough and snappish earlier on, suddenly became like any other child at a cake shop, energetic and excited, happy to be eating sweets. Asa watched in amusement as he ate, pushing the cup with the Special in it towards him and telling him to drink something lest he choke, to which he obeyed before diving at his cake again. Leaving him happily to his cake, she trotted over to the counter, looking very pleased with herself. "See? Problem all fixed! The kid was shy, so he put on a tough exterior, that's all."

She was promptly glomped and gratitude and given a free slice of cake before shoved towards her friends.

"Back?" Fuji asked, taking a sip from his cup and letting the warm drink sit on his tongue for a bit before swallowing, enjoying the feeling as the warm liquid tumbled down his throat and into his stomach.

Asa nodded, sitting down in the open seat next to him and starting in on her cake. "I love helping the costumers here and all, but I wish that everyone else would try to do that, too, so I don't get swamped with these 'favors' as soon as I walk in the door," she grumbled, stabbing at her slice with her fork. Fuji chuckled, evidently amused with her.

A tug at her arm diverted her attention from Fuji. The little boy who had sat at the back table was standing next to her, looking embarrassed. "Um… thank you for the treats," he said shyly. "And I'm sorry if I caused any trouble."

Asa blinked before collecting her composure. "Not at all! I'm glad you enjoyed the cake and the drink," she said, at the same time which Atobe said, "Kenta, what mischief were you up to?"

Heads swiveled over to the diva, who was frowning at the little boy. "You know him, Atobe?" Oshitari asked, taking another sip from his cup before setting it down on the table.

"He's my cousin," Atobe said shortly.

"Ah! That's why he sounded a lot like Atobe-kun!" Asa said, realization hitting her. Atobe twitched, glaring at her, trying to decided whether or not that was a compliment to his splendid person or a direct insult. He decided to take it as a compliment.

Kenta looked horrified to see his older cousin and inched behind Asa, using her as a shield, peeking around her nervously. "Keigo-nii's going to tell Nana," he whined, looking sulky.

Atobe snorted. "Of course I'm going to tell Grandmother," he retorted. "Causing trouble for others is not going to be excused lightly."

"But…"

"Ore-sama's word is final." Kenta whimpered.

"Mou… Atobe-kun, it's alright," Asa said, trying to make peace between the cousins (Kenta's puppy dog face was also rather effective). "Kenta-kun was just a bit shy." Turning to Kenta, she asked, "Is anyone coming to pick you up?"

Kenta shook his head, looking remorseful. "The limo's coming at nine to take me to the station. Mother is spending a week in Tokyo since she just finished a business deal." Atobe swore under his breath and was promptly scolded by Miho for language usage.

"But it's already past nine," Oishi said, staring at the clock, looking worried. "You should have been picked up by now."

"Hakubo-san probably forgot all about Kenta. It happens often," Atobe sighed, getting up. "Kenta, c'mon. Keigo-nii will take you home." He turned to the others. "I'll pay for this. Count it as payback for the troubles my annoying cousin caused." He had the bill paid in less then three seconds, and took Kenta by the hand. "Say 'Thank you' to Ijuuin," he ordered.

"Thank you," he said dutifully, shaking her hand before trotting at Atobe's side as the two left the shop. A silence followed them, broken by Oshitari.

"No wonder Atobe was so keen on leaving his house for New Year's," he muttered, earning him questioning looks. "Atobe hates his aunt with a passion. You should have seen the last Atobe family gathering."

"Why would he hate her so much, though?"

Oshitari shrugged. "Atobe might not show it, but he's rather fond of Kenta. He despises it that Kenta's mother usually forgets to pick him up even though she promised him. Kenta's neglected rather frequently, and spends most of his time either with Atobe's grandmother or with Atobe himself." Oshitari raised an eyebrow at Asa. "I'm surprised he got along so well with you. Atobe's told me on more than one occasion that Kenta is a difficult brat to deal with and his previous sitters hated him with a passion."

Asa blinked again before shaking her head. "Iie, Kenta-kun's alright. He's not that bad, I think."

Shishido huffed. "You should go into childcare when you graduate, then. You seem to have a way with kids."

"So says the one who offers to babysit at large family functions," Inui muttered, reading from his notebook, glasses glinting dangerously. Shishido turned a brilliant shade of red and glared. Gakuto openly laughed.

It was three in the afternoon by the time they trooped over to Asa's house to pick up their things and go to their own respective homes. They chatted cheerily along the way, Inui getting into his data mode and reading snippets of data of everyone in the group from his notebook, much to the amusement of everyone and the embarrassment of whoever's data was being read.

"'Ijuuin Asa,'" Inui read, and Asa frowned, bracing herself, "'her most prized possession is a music box, which apparently got insulted by Fuji the first time he listened to it.'" Fuji huffed, turning away, while Asa offered a lopsided grin. Inui was pretty good at what he did.

Snapping his book shut, the data man regarded Asa with a serious look. "It'll be about time to make up a decision," he said. "Graduation is in three months, and isn't the final announcement the day after? It would be best to sort out your feelings in these three months; time goes by fast."

Asa lowered her head. "Yes… yes, time goes by fast," she agreed.

A hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up. Inui was smiling, a kind smile of genuine concern. "I wish you luck. May you be 100% sure in your decisions today and after today."

"Thank you."

Inui left with his overnight stuff slung over his shoulder and a cheery wave, leaving Asa on her doorstep to brood over what he had said. Time really was running short. She heaved a defeated sigh.

_Saa… no matter how hard one tries, their problems keep coming back, don't they?_

* * *

A/N: Ugh. Absolute suck. Total fail. And the sad thing is... it took me so very long to write. *sobs*

Three more chapters and I'm finished! ^_^ I feel so happy!

Please **review**! Thank you!


	14. Chapter 13

**_Chapter 13_**

January passed without much hassle. February came smoothly enough, with the snow slowly by surly melting away. In its place were slush piles, which Asa knew would soon vanish just as the snow before it had done.

Asa was sitting on her bed, Indian style, reading a manga that she had borrowed from Kurumi. The house was silent; it was a Sunday and her parents had left to attend a formal state dinner (neither of who looked excited about, she had noted bemusedly). Kurumi was over at a friend's house, having spent the Sunday shopping with said friend and then was invited for a sleepover. Asa was more than happy to give permission; an evening of peace and quiet was wonderful. Narumi had landed herself a boyfriend, a third year who attended Josei Shounan Middle School and was two years older than her, and had been invited to a movie. Asa had only met the boy once or twice but had already laid the ground rules of his dating her little Narumi: hurt her and he dies a very painful death.

But he had seemed like a nice boy, so Asa doubted that she would have to carry out her threat. Besides, talking with Inui and Oishi (just to make sure that she wasn't handing off her sister to some creep) had yielded that he was an Honors student, and a member of the Josei Shonan tennis team. Furthermore, Inui had said that he was stubborn, but meant well most of the time, and had an older twin brother to keep him in check when the need arose.

Asa had left the boys then, satisfied that her sister was going to be fine, although the threat was still told to further make sure that he knew what he was getting into (Seika was shown to him, and the cat had hissed, signifying the method of his 'painful death').

_Narumi will be back at nine,_ Asa mused, looking up from her manga to the clock. It was currently seven thirty. Swinging herself off of her bed, she left her room, a fluffy bundle of white fur following quietly after her. "I'm going to go out for a bit, Seika," she told the cat, pouring her a dish of milk. The cat mewed happily as she lapped at the white liquid, tail lashing behind her as she purred. "I'll be back late. Sorry for leaving you alone at home."

Her cat mewed again as Asa stood to get her coat, almost as if saying 'No problem!' Asa chuckled lightly before leaving the house, locking the door after her. _Saa…Valentine's Day is coming up soon,_ she thought, leaning heavily against the front door. "I should probably buy chocolate, shouldn't I?" she voiced aloud, staring remorsefully up at the sky.

Actually, she wasn't sure if she even _wanted_ to give chocolate out this year. Maybe she should just lie low for Valentine's Day and hope that no one caught her without chocolates. Yes… that sounded like a plan…

From her pocket suddenly came the tune of her cell phone's ringtone. Plunging her hand into said pocket, she fished out the communication device. 'Fuji' flashed merrily on the screen, and curious, she flipped open the phone and answered. "Moshimoshi?" she asked, puzzled as to why Fuji was calling her at such an hour.

"Moshimoshi!" came Fuji's cheery reply from the other side. "Aa-chan, are you free tonight?" he asked, without even bothering with small talk and pleasantries.

Asa blinked, surprised that that was the first thing that had left his mouth. "Hai. Kaa-san and Tou-san are at a formal dinner, Narumi is with her boyfriend, and Kurumi is at a friend's place," she answered, wondering why he asked. "Why?"

She heard him chuckle on the other end of the line. "There's a forecast for a meteor shower tonight!" he said, his excited voice ringing in her ear. "A meteor shower, Aa-chan!" he continued, "Those don't come often!" His voice was gaining excitement the more he spoke, and there were light thumps on his side of the line. Asa wondered briefly if he was jumping up and down because he was so excited. It made for a pretty comical image, she had to admit.

"So, anyways…" She roused herself from her thoughts as Fuji spoke again. "I'm at the park right now… the one that we walk past every day to get to school. I've managed to grab a bench, but I don't know how long I can hold it. You see, it's rather crowded here; everyone's staking a place so that they can see the meteor shower. So…! If you come and sit on the other side of this bench, we can keep it and won't have to sit somewhere else, like, in the fountain that's filled with cold water."

Asa digested all of this information. "So… you want to tell me that I should pretend to be your date so that you have a nice place to sit during the meteor shower," she said slowly.

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean…" His voice trailed off, and she could just imagine him with a frown on his face as he thought. "Hmm… now that you mention it, though, a date sounds nice," he answered a few seconds later. "We can get ice cream or something afterwards. It's a short bus ride to downtown Tokyo with all of the shops that are open almost 24 hours a day. Alright, then! A date it is! I'll be seeing you at the park in ten!" There was a click as he hung up, leaving Asa to frown. Since when had she agreed to a date?

_But one doesn't see a meteor shower often,_ she thought to herself, snapping her phone shut and slipping it into her pocket. _So I suppose a date is a small price to pay for watching something like that. Except… _Her frown deepened, and she stared back up at the sky. _It's not even dark yet! Why is everyone waiting so early for it?_

Her pocket suddenly started vibrating and she fished her cell phone back out. 'One Incoming Mail' it read, and she opened it. **Aa-chan, stop worrying about why we're all waiting for it now!** it read, and Asa wondered briefly if Fuji was physic. If he was, she wouldn't have been very surprised.

**I'm coming, I'm coming,** she texted back and shut her phone before snapping it shut and running down the street.

***

Fuji had not lied when he had said that the park was crowded. Every bench was occupied, and all of the grassy areas were covered with blankets with people sitting on them, despite the slush and the chill of the February evening. There were even people perched on the edge of the fountain (Asa hoped dearly that they wouldn't end up with colds the next day should they fall into said fountain). Asa paused at the park entrance and glanced around, trying not to ogle at anyone but the surprise was still very evident on her face. Who would have thought that so many people had turned up?

_And how am I supposed to find Fuji-kun with so many people around?_ Asa scanned the benches, but couldn't find the familiar wisps of honey-brown hair. She glanced around, wondering whether or not she should chance entering the park and getting herself hopelessly lost among the sea of people. That would be… unpleasant, to a certain degree.

_He **did **say he had a bench, though,_ she mused, _and since there is only so many benches in the park, I suppose finding him is an accomplishable feat. _Feeling more relieved, she started forward, smiling cheerfully as she wondered what the meteor shower would be like. She had only seen pictures from the Internet… and pictures were nothing like the real thing. She was beginning to feel excited at the prospect.

"Kya~~! Fuji-sama~~!" High, squealing voices that could only belong to abnormally obsessed fans of some idol or another reached her ears and she cringed inwardly. Was it just her, or was there an influx of fan-peoples in Tokyo lately? Were the idols of today honestly that wonderful?

_Perhaps I should rent a movie sometime and get myself caught up with the social world._

"Fuji-sama, don't you want to see the meteor shower with me?" That annoying high-pitched voice continued, and Asa began to move away from the immediate area. "They say that meteor showers are lucky for one's love-life, even more so when it's so close to Valentine's Day," the voice gushed, still managing to retain its squeaky loudness. "Couples who watch meteor showers together are said to live happily together forever with their love never dying!"

A faint smile quirked on Asa's face as she heard this. Urban legends were fun to hear, yes, but the corniness of most of them was quite funny, in her mind. _Oh? Did she mention Fuji-kun?_ The sudden thought made her stop her trek and inch towards the squealing fangirl again.

Fuji tried to fend off his excited fan to the best of his ability. "Is that so?" he asked, wondering since when had he been so nervous with his fans. "Um…" _It would be rude to say that I have someone else that I want to see it with, would it? What do I do…?_

"Fuji-kun!" Fuji looked up to see Asa, and his smile instantly brightened, until he saw that teasing glint in her blue eyes. "Fuji-kun is quite the stud, isn't he?" she asked, and Fuji flushed. He dearly hated it when the student surpassed the teacher.

"Aa-chan, I am not a stud! Don't say things like that!" he said hurriedly, jumping up. "Anyways, you're late!" he said, crossing his arms over his chest with a sulky expression on his face. "I had to wait an extra five minutes. Do you know how hard it is to defend this bench?" As he was speaking, someone else had taken the chance to slip into the previously occupied bench. Sighing, Fuji drooped. There went his seat. "It's all your fault, Aa-chan!" he whined.

"If you weren't so excited you wouldn't have lost your bench. What happened to the calm and collected tensai Fuji Syusuke?" was Asa's response, and Fuji grumbled under his breath. "In any case… we'll need to find another spot to watch. I can see why you wanted to be so early… if we waited until nightfall not even an ant would have been able to get into the park." Her gaze swept through the park again, searching for a place where two people could stand. If there was one where they could sit, it would be better, but Asa wasn't putting her chances on it happening. She'd be perfectly content with a spot that had a bit of room around it, like, say, a hands-width all around.

"You're not a member!" suddenly rang in her ear and she jumped, startled, glancing around to see the furiously red face of Fuji's fan. Asa had forgotten all about her. Whoops. "Only third year members, the fuku-buchou, and the buchou of the Official Fuji-sama Fan Club have the right to call Fuji-sama 'Fuji-kun'!"

"The right…?" Asa echoed, puzzled beyond measure. _Fuji-kun's fan club has a set hierarchy? _She never knew that…

"Exactly!" was the heated response. "The lowest members of the club, the first year girls, may only call him 'Fuji-sama.' Second-year girls may call him 'Fuji-san.' Third year girls may call him 'Fuji-kun.' The fuku-buchou can directly call him 'Fuji.' And the esteemed honor of calling Fuji-sama 'Syusuke-kun' is reserved for our buchou!"

"So you're a first year, and therefore the lowest members of the hierarchy?" Asa asked, trying to sort all this out in her mind.

The girl smirked, planting her hands on her hips. "I'm a second-year, and thus I'm able to call Fuji-sama 'Fuji-san.' However, any girl can call Fuji-sama by a title in the levels lower than the one she's in." Asa suddenly blinked as a finger was poked in her face. "You're not an official member! Therefore, you must address Fuji-sama as Fuji-ojii-sama!"

"Prince… Fuji…?" Standing off to the side, Fuji heaved a light sigh, watching the question marks that danced atop Asa's head. Fangirls were puzzling creatures, that was for sure, although he was just surprised as Asa to find out that there was a set hierarchy in his fan club. Should he be proud of the fact that his fan club was not made of total idiots…?

The fangirl nodded seriously, then gave a pitying shake of her head. "Do you know how many poor souls don't know that important rule? Of course you don't… you're like them all, ignorant of Fuji-sama's wonderful greatness. The Club and its members spend so much of our time putting them back into line; it's tiring. But Fuji-sama's simply too pure for someone outside of his Club to sink their little claws into! As loyal members of Fuji-sama's fan club, we pledge to diligently protect Fuji-sama from the dangers that come from dating witches!"

_They're crazy,_ Asa concluded, fighting the urge to twitch. _Anyone who knows Fuji-kun knows that he's anything but 'pure.' He's the resident **sadist**, for Kami-sama's sake!_ Fangirls were dangerous beings, as well as terribly misguided. But Asa didn't quite see the use of correcting them. It would be a waste of her breath to do so.

"Now!" The finger jabbed closer to her face and Asa was forced to pull back lest she wanted to lose an eye. "You must properly apologize to Fuji-sama! Tell him that you're very, very sorry for calling him so casually, when he and his greatness demands greater respect!"

Asa felt something inside snap. The fangirl had been amusing at first, but now she was simply annoying. Asa was done listening to things that fangirls created among themselves. She was not a part of the fan club, so why should she have to be subjected to their rules? She didn't see a reason to. "Yadda," she said flatly. "I won't."

"You dare to defy our rules?"

A dry, humorless smile flitted across Asa's face. "I just did," she said. "Well, then… I'll be seeing you later. Something came up." Turning to Fuji, she offered an apologetic little bow. "Gomen, Fuji-kun. See you in school tomorrow!" She hated to break a promise with him, but she honestly didn't have the heart to watch the meteor shower with him knowing that there was someone out to tear her apart. It probably wouldn't have been as big of a problem as it was now if she had just called him 'Fuji-ojii-sama' like the fan club insisted, but she wasn't a _fan _of Fuji's. She was a _friend_. There was a big difference between fan and friend. Besides, she could comfort herself later on by watching taped meteor showers on the Internet.

"Ja ne! Enjoy the meteor shower!"

"Aa-chan…!" Fuji called out after her, reaching out a hand almost as if to grab her arm and physically stop her from leaving, but she was already out of reach and simply gave a wave in his direction. _Aa-chan… I really wanted to see the meteor shower with you,_ he thought, dropping his hand back down to his side.

_With **you**… don't you understand?_

***

"So you had a bad experience with fangirls, huh?"

Asa was walking with Miho down the halls of school the next morning, having just relayed to her best friend the events that happened the night before. As she had half expected, Miho had watched it with Eiji, and had raved about it to her, which had brought up the memories of the fangirl. She nodded as Miho looked thoughtful, fingering the ribbon on her box of chocolate that she had prepared for her boyfriend while she thought.

"Maa… it must be hard, ne?" Miho said finally, sighing lightly. "I mean… I don't have experience in dealing with fangirls myself. Of course Eiji has fans, too, but they're all incredibly nice. They care about his performance in the courts, and as long as he's happy off of them, they're fine with it. They're very sincere; I've talked with several of them." She heaved another sigh. "I guess Fuji-kun's fans are the kind that wants to monopolize him and keep him all to themselves. Why else would they have such a strict set of rules?"

Asa agreed with her friend. It was very logical, and thus made sense in her mind. Miho suddenly stopped, and Asa did, too, puzzled. "What's wrong?" she asked, glancing at Miho.

"Ijuuin Asa…" Asa suddenly had a bad feeling about what she was going to say. "…where are your chocolates today?"

She knew it. Maybe she should have faked a fever and not come to school today.

Miho wagged a finger in her face, tsking. "That won't do, Asa-chan!" she scolded, like it was Asa's sacred duty to bestow chocolate upon bows on Valentine's Day. "How will your one true love know you like them if you don't give chocolate on such a special day?"

"Did you hit your head somewhere, Miho-chan?"

"What? Of course not!" Miho replied indignantly, huffing. "Whatever gave you that impression?"

"Maybe the true love part…" Asa mumbled.

Miho's brown eyes softened. "Ah… I shouldn't have said that, should I?" she asked, patting her friend on the shoulder. She had wanted to say something in the spirit of Valentine's Day, and so that phrase had come out. "Gomenesai, Asa-chan."

"It's alright."

"But you can still give _him_ chocolate, can't you?" Miho asked, beginning to look worried. "Say it's for compensation for walking out on the meteor shower last night. No, wait! I have an even better idea! Tell him it's a really early birthday present! You can't just skip him when you give chocolates!"

Asa stopped her before she got too excited and started planning the most absurd plans that would have no chance of succeeding. "Miho-chan, I have _no_ chocolates with me today. Not a single piece."

"Oh…"

Asa stretched her arms above her head, taking a deep breath and putting a brilliant smile on her face. "But that's alright!" she said cheerily. "This year I'm going to observe the festivities of Valentine's Day from the sidelines. That means watching chocolates get eaten, seeing young love bloom, and mending broken hearts in the sweet shop! I can do without giving chocolates out this time… doesn't it sound like I have a busy day ahead of me?"

"If you say so…" Miho said, not looking too sure. The cheerfulness seemed a little… forced, if Miho had a say in it. But Asa was Asa, and whether or not Miho liked it, she couldn't force the other girl to say the truth. _I wonder what exactly happened last night?_

Lunch period brought the arrival of fangirls in groups of one to at least twenty (because Miho had lost her spot at twenty, and there were many, many girls, and she had been too lazy to recount). Miho and Asa situated themselves at a table in the corner of the cafeteria and watched the added chaos in the lunchroom while they ate their own lunches. Presently, Eiji bounced in, looking happy, and made a beeline straight for them.

"MIHO~~!" he yelled happily and then proceeded to glomp the girl, who laughed in response. _Amazing,_ Asa thought, watching the two while she popped another bit of rice into her mouth, _Miho-chan's not getting strangled!_ "Miho, Miho!" Eiji was continuing on, looking really excited. "I got lots of chocolate today! Everyone's so nice to me!" More laughter from Miho, and then the girl produced her own box of chocolate.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Eiji," she said with a bright smile, and received another glomp in thanks for the chocolate. Eiji popped a piece into his mouth right then and there, everything about him radiating satisfaction. What followed was a shower of compliments about the chocolate ('Miho's chocolate is the best of them all!').

Asa stood, flashing her two friends a smile and murmuring an excuse about going to the library to study for a test, packing up the remains of her lunch and then leaving the lunchroom. She felt bad for simply leaving the two of them, but the 'Kya~! Fuji-sama~!'s, 'Kya~! Tezuka-sama~!'s, and Kya-anyone-else-sama's were beginning to grate on her nerves. She swore that if she spent any more time in there her head would explode clean off of her shoulders. And that certainly wouldn't be very pleasant.

She passed Atobe in the hallways. He was surrounded by such a thick crowd of fawning fangirls that she couldn't even see him in their midst, but from the 'Atobe-sama~!'s she could tell exactly who it was. Did fangirls have to be that loud? She could feel a headache coming to her, and changed direction. She'd head to the clinic. Maybe the nurse would be nice enough to let her sleep the afternoon away.

"Aa-chan." Stopping when her name was called, she turned around to find herself face-to-face with Fuji. The next few seconds consisted of them staring at each other blankly, and when they did speak, it was together, although totally unintentional.

"What are you doing here?" was what came out of Asa's mouth. Wasn't he swamped in fangirls just moments before?

"I need to talk to you," came from Fuji's mouth. There were a few matters that he wanted to clear up with her.

Asa blinked. Fuji drew up short. "You go first," they both offered at the same time. Another few moments of silence passed, with more staring as each of them tried to judge when the other was going to speak.

When Fuji made no move to open his mouth and initiate the act of speaking, Asa swallowed. "Um… did you get a lot of chocolates this year, Fuji-kun?" she squeaked out. His expression darkened, and she drew back, watching him nervously. "Maa… all of Fuji-kun's fans must be really excited today," she continued. When one starts a conversation, he should finish it. As of now, Asa stood firmly behind that belief. If she didn't talk, there would only be an awkward silence. "They all really want Fuji-kun to eat their chocolate." She offered him a shaky smile.

"Saa…" Fuji murmured softly, "I don't want their chocolates." Asa looked surprised, and Fuji's eyes opened, pinning her to the wall behind her with their icy gaze. "Do you know how hard it is to smile and accept something that others so painstakingly made, when you know that you want that same thing from a different person, a person who simply won't give it up?" He took a step forward. She inched backwards. "It was always easier to accept sentiments when I didn't have someone I really wanted something from," Fuji breathed, taking another step forward. Asa's back was against the wall; she had nowhere to go, and could only watch Fuji's slow and steady advancement.

"If that girl wasn't there last night, would you have stayed and watched the meteor shower with me?" Fuji asked, placing a hand on the wall above each of her shoulders and successfully trapping her in one place. He leaned forward, resting his forehead on hers when she lifted her head in order to clearly see his face (her father had always said it was important to look a person in the eye when they were speaking to you). "I was really looking forward to our date, too…" he murmured, closing those cerulean orbs of his, but not into his customary smile. He seemed tired, all of a sudden, and not the usual playful Fuji.

"Fuji-sama will surely eat my chocolate!" Both Asa and Fuji started at the loud shrillness that could only signify fangirls. Thankfully, though, they were beyond the corner in the hallway and the girls didn't see them, immersed instead in their argument about whose chocolate Fuji would eat. "He will eat it and realize that I am the only one capable of capturing his heart!"

"You'll have to give him your chocolate, first," came the smug voice of the second. "How will he eat it if he doesn't have it?"

A third voice in the trio of girls sounded out. "We'd better hurry, then. Buchou specifically stated that we're not to bother Fuji-sama during tennis practice with chocolates, instead we're supposed to observe his flawless grace on the tennis courts." Had Asa not been pinned to the wall by Fuji at that moment she would have collapsed laughing. What a choice of words! She had always thought that Tezuka was the one who possessed the perfect tennis among them all. "If we miss this chance it's all over. We have to find Fuji-sama!" There was a pattering of feet as they left the hallways and Fuji drew away from the wall.

"Saa… looks like I'm on chocolate-receiving duty again," he said, smiling that usual smile of his. "I'll see you later, then, Aa-chan." He paused when there was no answer. "Aa-chan…?"

A frown had made its way across Asa's face. There was something bothering her… if she actually put some thought into it she realized that it had been bothering her for quite some time, now. And it had all stemmed from fangirls. _Why…? I'm not jealous, am I?_ Hastily, she shook her head, earning a worried look from Fuji, which she ignored because she hadn't seen it, so wrapped up in her thoughts. Of course she wasn't. That was absurd.

_They make me feel uncomfortable… those fangirls. Even though Fuji-kun is really handsome, he has great grades, he's really caring about others even though he plays lots of pranks of them… they only like him because of his physical aspects. How many of them actually understand them, I wonder? Does Tezuka-kun, who has been his captain for the past three years, even understand Fuji-kun? _She gnawed on her lower lip, brows furrowing in concentration.

"Fujiko! We need to get back to class!" Eiji called out, having found his best friend and was now going to enact the plan of dragging the brunet off to probably help him with his homework. Fuji turned to him, starting forward, about to wave and say hello when something stopped him.

"Aa-chan?" he asked, glancing down at his wrist where she had clamped her hand onto. "Is something wrong?"

"Eh?" Asa snapped out of her reverie, turning a nice shade of red when she saw her hand holding him back. Eiji looked absolutely thrilled and promptly vanished from sight. Asa released Fuji's wrist like it was heated metal and would burn her, while Fuji brought his arm slowly back to his side. "Nothing," she stammered. "You should probably go. Eiji-kun must want your help for something important. See you later." She turned and scrambled away before Fuji could catch her and question her further.

_What was I thinking? Grabbing Fuji-kun's hand like that, without warning… but he really is warm… warm and soft…_ She blinked, skidding to a halt, eye wide as she considered what she had just thought. Warm and soft. Had she seriously thought of Fuji as warm and _soft_?

_But he is,_ some part of her argued. _I always feel safe with Fuji-kun. Even if I'm confused he always makes me feel safe. Always, always._

Her eyes widened even more until she was afraid they would fall clean out of her head. Oh, she couldn't, could she? _Mattaku! I'm so dense!_ she fairly wailed to herself. Because if she really thought about it… if she put conscious effort into all of the events concerning her and Fuji…

_I… really like Fuji-kun._

* * *

A/N: Eh... I've decided to give poor Fuji a break and make Asa less dense. :)

**Reviews** are loved. Click that little green button! Thank you!


	15. Chapter 14

**_Chapter 14_**

The end of February brought warm and agreeable weather, much to everyone's happiness. The majority of the slush piles that had been left behind by January had vanished, and the only thing that one had to worry about now was stepping on grass and sinking down into mud from where the snow had enthusiastically melted into the ground.

Fuji's birthday came finally on the 29th. His sister came home early from work in order to help his mother do the finishing touches of the feast the Fuji family had planned, complete with all of Fuji's favorite foods (although with not-so-spicy alternatives for the rest of the family members who couldn't quite stomach spicy foods as well as Fuji himself). Yuuta had been convinced to come for dinner and to stay for the night, and so there was a festive gathering in the Fuji house, just like on Yuuta's birthday earlier on the 18th.

At school, he was showered with gifts from his fans, who had apparently taken it upon themselves to make the whole school festive for this occasion. Fuji had watched, bemused, while his desk piled so high with presents that in a few short minutes he couldn't even see in front of it, such was the stack of presents. Wherever he went, he would have to pull up short every now and then to avoid getting hit in the face with a gift. Even the team had seen it fit to get him a few small presents, and there was plenty of laughs as they teased him about how old he was (Fuji would joke that he was four-years old and not the sixteen that he now was).

Even Miho had gotten him a gift, a little figure of a prince on a keychain, which he had immediately placed on the zipped of his tennis bag, feeling rather touched. Asa, too, had found a gift for him, a pair of puppy and kitten figures that went on the cell phone and that were brightly furnished with colorful beads. Cute, yes, and not something one would expect a sixteen-year old boy to have on his cell phone, but Fuji had attached it to his phone right away, without a moment of hesitation, waving aside Asa's excuses about not finding a gift that was a bit more 'manly.'

As long as it made him happy and warm and fuzzy inside and generally brought him up on cloud nine, Fuji was fine with any gift he received. Thus, he really didn't care what Asa had decided to get him (a kiss would have been nice, though. He knew several of the upperclassmen got kisses from their girlfriends on their birthdays. And no, he had not spied on them. What on earth would give one the impression of that? He had merely observed casually from behind a tree).

But no matter how he looked at it, Fuji dearly loved it when his birthday came. He loved being spoiled silly by everyone who knew him (he had always been special, he knew).

But now that his birthday had passed and he was officially sixteen, he made himself busy by prowling the streets of downtown Tokyo, glancing at shop windows and contemplating their wares, comparing their costs to how much pocket money he had on him and how much money he could get his hands on in the next week.

"Miss? Can I help you at all?" Fuji ignored the employee of the current shop he was in. After all, hadn't she said 'miss'? The last time Fuji had checked, he was a guy. So she couldn't have been talking to him.

"Um… miss?" the employee said again. "Is there anything that you need help with?" Now Fuji turned to her, one eyebrow raised slightly. She had mistaken him for a girl? He knew that he had a smaller build then most boys his age, and that he had softer features then them, but he didn't look _that _much like a girl, did he?

"I'm just browsing," he said, and the employee bobbed her head before moving off, probably wondering why this 'girl' was so strange. Slightly amused, Fuji snickered to himself as he continued to browse.

_Saa… I can see why everyone hates White Day, now,_ he mused to himself as he moved through the store's selection of jewelry, cerulean eyes drifting over the items, not really finding one that really demanded his attention to it. Honestly speaking, White Day simply put too much pressure on all of the guys who had received chocolates for Valentine's Day, himself included. It would be nice if he could just stay home for White Day, so as not to get molested by a mob of fans.

An hour later, he had finished his window-shopping, was still empty-handed, and had plopped himself down at one of the booths in one of the many sidewalk cafés and was sipping at a mug of hot cocoa, staring out the window onto the street. Several minutes passed by where he just sat and stared before he pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number, holding it to his ear as he waited almost impatiently for the person he had called to pick up.

"Moshimoshi?" came a puzzled voice on the other end.

"Eiji," Fuji said brightly (he had dialed Eiji's home phone).

"Fujiko!" Immediately, Eiji's voice perked up. "Nya, Fujiko, help me help me help me!" the redhead wailed. "I can't find a good gift for Miho for White Day! What do I do, nya?"

Fuji shrugged before reminding himself that Eiji couldn't see it. "I don't know. I was looking for a gift, too."

There was silence on Eiji's side of the line, and then Fuji could hear his friend again. Eiji's usually cheerful voice was dark and foreboding, though, which surprised him. "Who is she?"

"Hmm?"

"Who. Is. She?" Eiji grated out. If Fuji had been any other person, he would have flinched at the venom in Eiji's voice, but since he was Fuji, he simply tilted his head to the side, a pleasantly puzzled expression on his face.

"What are you talking about, Eiji?" Fuji asked. "I was going to get Aa-chan a gift, except I didn't quite see something that I thought she might like. I was going to ask you if you had any suggestions."

There was silence on the other side of the line before Eiji let out a tiny, "Oh…"

Fuji chuckled. "Ah… are you busy right now? If not, we can get our browsing done today and figure out what we want to get. There are plenty of stores and wares over here; you're bound to find something for Oshitari-chan." Eiji let out a whoop and promised to be right over when Fuji gave his current location to the redhead.

And true to his word, Fuji could see Eiji tapping happily on the window next to his seat fifteen minutes later. Both boys waved at each other before Fuji stood up, paid for his cocoa, and joined Eiji outside. "The shops, the shops!" Eiji cried excitedly.

Eiji dragged Fuji into every single store that his indigo eyes laid sight on. By the time they had gone through the street of shops twice Fuji was thankful that he hadn't been born a girl. How on earth did girls manage their huge shopping sprees? It was amazing.

"Do you think she'll like it?" Eiji asked hopefully, holding up his purchase for Fuji to see… for the tenth time. "It fulfills the White Day criteria, right? It's white… see…"

Fuji chuckled, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Hai, hai… it's fine, Eiji. You're worrying too much about it." Eiji gave him a hopeful look and Fuji chuckled again. "As long as you really thought about it, she'll enjoy the gift." Eiji looked absolutely thrilled, but then frowned at Fuji's own empty hands.

"What about your gift, Fujiko?" he asked. "We've gone through every store and you still haven't picked something out."

Here, Fuji gave a soft smile and started leading Eiji down the street. "Actually, I think I've picked something out," he told his friend. "Would you give it a look and tell me what you think?"

Eiji grinned and flashed his victory sign in Fuji's face. "Of course, of course!"

***

Asa was quite happy when the morning of March fourteenth dawned and she headed to school. She hadn't given out any chocolates this year, so she figured that she should be safe from any White Day gifts. After all, boys only gave girls presents on White Day when the girl gave them chocolates and they returned the feelings.

_The Valentine Chocolates are a key factor,_ she thought, allowing a satisfied smile to slip over her face. _If there are no Valentine Chocolates, then there should be no White Day gift, in theory. Yes… it all works out. _Giving herself a firm nod as congratulatory for her brilliant deductions, she stepped into her homeroom, expecting her day to pass as a perfectly ordinary one.

That was why she stopped and stared at the little white box on her desk, complete with matching white ribbon, puzzlement all over her features. Why was there… a gift… on her desk?

"'To Ijjuin-chan, Happy White Day,'" she read, holding the little box in her hand. "'From, Nakamura Katsuo.'"

_Oh… dear… Kami-sama…_

She heaved a sigh and set the box down, looking troubled. She couldn't accept it. First of all, she hadn't even given him chocolates a month ago! Second of all… it wouldn't do to accept a White Day gift from a boy that she didn't like, right?

_Mou… it's not exactly like that… Nakamura-sempai fulfills the part of an older brother more than a fiancé, I think,_ she thought, frowning thoughtfully to herself. At least, besides from showering her with gifts, he hadn't made any other effort to try and be anything more fiancé-like. In fact, the two of them rarely spoke to each other as it was, only holding the occasional conversation which usually revolved around schoolwork and the like. _Either way, I can't accept this._

She set the gift gently into her bag for later and sat down at her desk, pulling out her books and flipping open to the day's lesson. Presently, Eiji and Miho popped in, chattering happily. They flocked to her excitedly, Miho holding a gift wrapped in white paper decorated with light blue flower petals in her hands. "Asa-chan! Look what Eiji got me!" she squeaked excitedly. "A White Day gift! A White Day gift! It's the first time I've ever gotten one; I'm so excited!"

Asa smiled brightly at her friend's enthusiasm. "You didn't open it, yet," she noted, turning to her friend. "What did Eiji-kun get you? Can I see?"

Miho nodded excitedly. "Of course you can!" she said brightly, plopping into her seat next to Asa's and opening her gift. When she saw the gift Eiji had got her, her grin nearly stretched off of her face. "Isn't it cute?" she asked, holding up a silver charm bracelet with tennis and cute little animal charms dangling off of the chain. In addition, a small packet of white chocolate and marshmallows had been added into the gift box, sufficiently taking up the whole volume of the box with the bracelet. Both girls promptly let out simultaneous sighs of 'aww…' as was appropriate for such a gift, and then Asa heartily congratulated her friend, and was given a marshmallow while Miho slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and popped a white chocolate piece into her mouth.

"Say, Asa-chan… did you get any gifts?" Miho asked, hinting towards Fuji with a twinkle in her eyes. Asa's face, though, surprised her. "Asa-chan… what's wrong?"

Asa sighed, reaching into her bag and withdrawing the white box with its matching satin ribbon, and showed it to her friend. Miho read the inscription and her face became troubled. "But what about Fuji-kun?" she blurted out. Eiji had told her already that Fuji had spent a lot of time trying to pick out the right gift. And now here was Nakamura's… sitting in her hands. "What did Nakamura-sempai get you?" she asked, giving the box another glance.

Asa didn't know, not having opened the box yet. Gently, Miho removed the ribbon and lifted the lid. Brown eyes widened, however, when she saw the contents of the box. "Tell me I need to get my eyes checked," she begged Asa, who simply raised an eyebrow, edging the box towards her so that she could see its contents, as well. When she did, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Eiji peeked over their shoulders and promptly squeaked in awe. "That's the necklace from the new Dazzle Sky line!" he cried, loud enough to attract the attention of everyone in the classroom and most in the hall, too. Miho furiously tried to shush him, while Asa frowned at the necklace. It was a dazzling piece of jewelry, composed of two strands of diamonds twinkling with iridescent colors. Three sapphires hung down from the center, and Asa assumed that the blue color was what gave the line its name.

"It's too shiny," Asa sighed, trying not to think of how much it cost. After all, the Dazzle Sky line came out only a few days ago, and to get a piece so quickly must have meant parting with a large sum of money. She was afraid to even imagine the cost of the gift in her hands.

Miho, though, seemed to have other thoughts. "You just got the necklace from the newest line of jewelry, and you think it's too shiny!?" her friend cried, looking exasperated. "Did you hit your head somewhere? These cost, like, 50 million yen apiece!"

Trust Miho to know about these things. Asa groaned and felt like smashing her head against her desk. So she held 50 million yen in her hands. Added with all of her other pieces, how much money did she have in her desk drawer? Any burglar who broke into the Ijuuin house would probably die of happiness before stealing anything, if the prices were correct.

Eiji bit his lip, looking worried. "But… what about Fujiko?" he asked, indigo eyes wide and round as saucers. "Nothing can compare against a 50 million yen necklace! What do we do what do we do what do we do?"

His wails would have continued had a sweet voice not suddenly interrupted him. "Is something wrong, Eiji?" Standing behind Eiji was Fuji, his head tilted to the side in mild puzzlement. Eiji let out a strangled little squeak, echoed by Miho, who promptly snatched the box from Asa's hands and tried to stuff it into her bag, away from sight. This did not go unnoticed by Fuji, who leaned forward curiously, gently removing the box from Miho's possession before the girl could protest. "Oh… is this the new necklace from the Dazzle Sky line?" he asked, smiling like he always did.

Miho gave a nervous nod, although her face seemed to pale when she saw Fuji go for the tag. "Um… Fuji-kun… what brings you here?" she asked, keeping brown eyes on the box and willing with her mind for Fuji to stop. Unfortunately, her physic powers seemed to need brushing up.

Fuji answered her while reading the tag. "My class is being too loud, and besides, there's no rule that says I can't crash in anyone else's class before the first bell rings, ne?" he asked, although his voice was devoid of its usual teasing lilt, which, frankly, worried his three friends. Replacing the lid on top of the box, he handed it back to Asa. "It's pretty, ne?" he asked softly.

"Eh? Uh… I suppose…"

"I see…" Fuji murmured, sliding his hands into the pockets of his school uniform. There was no smile on his face. "Saa... this makes things considerably more difficult then they were before," he sighed.

"Fuji-kun…?" Asa chanced, looking something between extremely nervous and extremely worried. Stuffing the box into her pocket (she was actually rather surprised that it fit), she stood, but Fuji dodged away from her before she could even make a move towards him, slipping out of the door. Eiji leapt up to go after him, but Asa shoved past him, surprising them all. "Um… please excuse me for a few moments!" she offered lamely before making a beeline for the doorway.

Finding the general direction that Fuji fled in proved to not be as difficult of a task as Asa had first suspected. It seemed that a fleeing tensai wasn't a sight that everyone got to see usually, so if she just followed the line of gossip (it helped that the gossipers also tended to point in the general direction as they gossiped to their friends), heading out of the school building. In no time, she found herself in front of the clubroom that the tennis club used.

"Pardon the intrusion," Asa murmured, putting her hand on the doorknob and opening the door. "Fuji-kun?" she asked, poking her head into the room. Sure enough, there was Fuji, sitting on the bench, leaning against the wall, eyes closed, face tilted towards the ceiling. Asa approached him hesitantly. "Fuji-kun?" she asked again, chancing to sit down next to him, praying fervently that he wouldn't snap at her.

Fuji glanced over at her, a puzzled expression on his face. She swallowed, offering a nervous little smile. "You came?" he asked, surprised and a bit flattered, although the bitterness was heavy in his voice.

"Well… yeah… I mean, you don't usually run off like that, you know."

Fuji chuckled mirthlessly. "I guess not. Rather un-genius-like of me, wasn't it?" He paused before speaking again. "Anyways… Nakamura-sempai really knows how to pick gifts for the occasion, ne?" he asked, feigning cheeriness.

Asa frowned. Fuji got all worked up over a gift? "I guess… but I really wished he'd stop doing things like that." She sighed tiredly and was silent for a few moments before sighing in exasperation. "I hate White Day!" she hissed out, frustrated. Her plan had been absolutely foolproof and wonderful, and now _this_ had to happen and everything was ruined! Why? Why did stupid, luckless things always seem to happen to her?

"Aa-chan?" Fuji ventured out hesitantly, wondering if he should laugh or tease her about her burst of frustration. In the end, he settled with merely being silent, cocking his head gently to one side to listen to what she had to say.

And it turned out like she had a lot to say, too, from the way it poured out of her. Fuji decided that it was a good thing that he had stayed silent; there was honestly no room for him to interject, not even for a squeak. "The point of White Day is for someone to give a gift to a girl if that girl gave him a gift on Valentine's Day! And even then, it's only if they _like_ the girl. It's very systematic and orderly…! One shouldn't get a gift if they didn't give anything for Valentine's Day!"

"Do you really believe that, Aa-chan?" Fuji asked, quickly placing in his two cent's worth when she paused for breath.

She started, as if just realizing that he was in the room with her. "Yes. I stand firmly behind that belief."

Fuji leaned back against the wall, contemplating her words. "But, Aa-chan… what if a guy really liked a girl, but the girl that he liked didn't give him chocolates for Valentine's? How is the boy supposed to tell the girl that he likes her?"

Asa huffed, not liking how Fuji was making things so much more complicated for her. Trust a genius to do that; she grumbled at the unfairness of it all.

"Mou, Fuji-kun," she whined, an evidently displeased expression on her face (Fuji thought it looked cute, the way her mouth was oriented into a little pout). "Stop making things so complicated! Not all of us are gifted geniuses like you are!"

Fuji couldn't help himself; he chuckled, and soon his chuckles gave way to soft laughter. Her pout grew bigger. Why, oh why, was Fuji-kun _laughing_ at her? This was a very serious matter! "Saa… Aa-chan… you need to lighten up," Fuji said cheerily when he had composed himself. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, turning away from him. Since when had their conversation turned into something that Fuji could just tease her?

Obviously, this amused Fuji to no end, which promptly caused him to turn his tease-Asa-until-she-couldn't-take-it-anymore mode to the extreme. By the time Asa finally managed to figure out a way to stop him and convinced him that they should probably get to class (as opposed to hiding in the tennis clubroom for the whole day), the bell for first period had long since rung. And then, while trying to head out the door like any other normal person, Asa tripped on a stray tennis ball (why were there stray tennis balls on the floor?) and tumbled with a squeak sideways into a whole crate of them. Little yellow balls fell all over the place, knocking over water bottles in the process. Some of the water bottles then chose to have their tops pop off and dump their contents all over the floor and the tennis balls.

Fuji and Asa remained silent, staring wide-eyed (in Asa's part) or with an everlasting smile (although Fuji's smile twitched just the tiniest bit). Finally, Asa let out a tiny, "Oops…"

Fuji shrugged, placing a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Don't worry about it," he offered cheerily, "We were going to be late for class, anyways. This just gives us a valid excuse." He smiled brightly; Asa simply sighed.

***

By the time they had managed to finish picking up the tennis balls and putting them back in their crate ('We should put the wet ones on the bottom,' Fuji had decided, 'that way, Tezuka won't find them so easily!') Asa did not want to touch another tennis ball for the rest of her life. When Fuji finally released her from the clubroom she made a beeline for the school building before she realized that she hadn't formed a legitimate excuse for missing the first part of school (she highly doubted the teachers would buy the fact that she was picking up tennis balls with Fuji-kun all morning, even though that was the truth).

_This is kind of depressing,_ she sighed to herself, changing direction and making herself comfortable underneath a sakura tree. Heaving a soft breath, she leaned her back against the bark of the tree, staring up at the pink blossoms that adorned the branches. _The year will end soon… what should I do over the vacation between terms? _She closed her eyes, tilting her head lightly to one side when she felt a soft petal land on her cheek.

"Ijuuin-chan, you're not cutting classes, are you?"

She cracked open one eye to find Nakamura before her, looking curiously down at her. "Possibly," Asa answered, feeling too lazy to go into details. "And you, Nakamura-sempai? You wouldn't be cutting classes as well, would you?"

He shrugged, looking amused. "Actually, this is my free period," he offered. "Do you mind if I sit?" She shook her head and he sat down on the ground. "Spring is my favorite time of year," he said, holding his hand out as petals floated down. "It's nice to look out the window and see the sakura blossoms in full bloom. There's one in my front yard."

"Really? My yard is too small for a sakura tree," Asa mused, looking thoughtfully up at the tree. However, a small frown soon appeared on her face. "Ne, Nakamura-sempai… about the White Day gift…" She trailed off, not quite sure how she wanted to word her thoughts.

"You mean the necklace?" Nakamura asked. She nodded mutely and a relieved smile crossed his face. "I'm glad you got it; I was afraid I put it on the wrong desk or something." His expression turned serious after a few moments and he studied her face carefully. "Is something wrong with it?"

"No, no! It's just… uh… how do I put this…?" Asa brought her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them. "It's really pretty and everything… but I can't accept it." She pulled the box out and looked at it before opening the lid. The sunlight caught the gems and made it dazzle and sparkle playfully. "I wasn't sure before, but now I'm certain. Nakamura-sempai is a really kind person, even though others might get the impression that he's not quite so, and I'm really glad to have been able to meet him. But…"

She shut the lid, simply holding the box in her hand. "But I don't like Nakamura-sempai in the way that our current situation calls for. That's because… I like someone else." She closed her eyes again and waited for the explosion.

Nakamura chuckled softly and her eyes flew open, looking up in surprise at her sempai. She had envisioned a lot of reactions, but laughing certainly hadn't made it onto her list. Nakamura composed himself after a few seconds, leaning back so that he could stare up at the branches. "Is that all?" he asked, looking bemused. Dumbfounded, she agreed.

"I'm glad."

"Huh?"

Nakamura turned his head so that he could face her. "I'm glad," he repeated patiently. "You know, somehow, I had a feeling that I wouldn't win right from the beginning." He sighed lightly and turned back to facing the branches. "The people who sparkle and dazzle the most are the hardest to get a hold of. That's why I chose the Dazzle Sky necklace. Everyone wants it, even though their reasons may be different, but in the end only a few will be able to own it. You're like that necklace, Ijuuin-chan."

Asa blinked, confused beyond measure. "I'm like the necklace?" she echoed, opening the box again to stare at the piece of jewelry it housed.

"Yes. Although, sometimes, I don't think you know it yourself. I'm under the impression that people don't really know their own good points, and only the people that they interact with truly know that. After all, if someone says that they're 'good and righteous,' others might get the impression that he's conceited. People have a habit of exaggerating their own good points to make themselves more appealing." He smiled a little, falling silent for a moment before speaking again. "Ijuuin-chan is like the necklace because she's always smiling. She wants to see others smile, so she always tries hard to make them happy. People can't be happy when they see sadness, so she bottles up the things that worry her and let them out only when she's along. Am I correct?"

She was silent, contemplating what he said. At last, she gave a small nod. "I guess that's true. When I was little, no one would smile at me. They thought that if they showed that they were happy, I would be sad, because I wasn't healthy like them, I couldn't do the things that children my age did. They'd keep their conversations strictly on little things, like the weather, or school, or stuff like that. But you know, when I'm talking about the weather and it's sunny, I'm happy, because the sun is warm on my face. If it's school, I can be happy, too, because people have fun painting or playing or singing with friends. If they don't smile, they can show happiness in other ways, like a little twinkle in the eye or something.

"But they never did that. It was like they wore stone masks when they were around me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't ever get anything other than sadness or pity from them. I didn't want to see them so sad… the people who were my friends and family. I didn't want to be pitied. I could be like a normal kid, too. I really could…" Tears sprang unbidden to her eyes and she tried to blink them away, but failed. Stubbornly, she continued, simply reaching up to brush them away but otherwise leaving them there, while Nakamura gave her an encouraging nod.

"Jiji-san took me to a cake shop once… when I was seven. It was the first time I've ever been in one. He said it was a birthday gift and I could pick any cake I wanted, as long as it made me happy. I couldn't choose one; they all looked so delicious that I wanted to try them all. Jiji-sama laughed and got me a box with assorted slices from all kinds of cakes, then he took me to the park and we got to eat them and feed the pigeons."

Asa smiled fondly, although her smile was a nostalgic one. "Jiji-sama was my hero. He could always make someone laugh or smile, even when they wanted to cry. He was the only one who wasn't all sad and mopey and boring when they came to visit me in the hospital. I wanted to be just like him; I wanted to be able to make people be happy when they were sad.

"But then when I was eight, he fell ill. He was hospitalized, but even despite the best efforts he passed away a week later. At the funeral, we were all asked to say what we liked best about Jiji-san. No one could say anything; they were too sad about his death. But Jiji-san wouldn't like it if everyone was sad at his funeral, because he always said that he wanted to be remembered for what he did when he was alive. I didn't understand it when he told me, and I don't think I understood it even then, but I do now."

She bit her bottom lip, sobbing quietly, feeling pathetic. "And so Ijuuin-chan wanted to be like her hero, right?" Nakamura asked softly. "Her hero wouldn't have wanted everyone to be unhappy, so she acted happy at the funeral in order to cheer everyone up, only she was crying inside."

"It was something like that, I suppose…" Asa swallowed and looked apologetically up at him. "I'm sorry; you probably weren't expecting that. I got off on a tangent."

"It was your first time telling anyone about your grandfather, I'm presuming?" Nakamura asked, to which she agreed. "I'm envious. If it were me, I'd probably be crying the hardest. I couldn't lose someone I respected so dearly and smile through it all."

_'I believe that if you truly loved someone, you'd smile for them no matter what happens to yourself.'_

She didn't know when Nakamura got up, slipping a folded bit of paper into the box she held in her hand. She didn't know when he walked away, gesturing Fuji to him. She didn't hear what he told the other boy, nor did she know when exactly Fuji sat down next to her.

All she knew was the warm arms that wrapped around her shoulder and brought her to a strong shoulder, a silent invitation for her to stop trying to be strong.

* * *

A/N: Jiji-san is an alternate name for grandfather.

It's been a long time since I updated this. Sorry. School showed its ugly head and let loose the AP World History minions. Which is why I failed at updating this. Sorry again, for this really really long chapter that's long overdue.

On the bright side, I envision one more chapter after this and then the epilogue, and then Sugar Sweet will be completed! Until then, **reviews** are always loved and appreciated.


	16. Chapter 15

**_Chapter 15_**

"I'm transferring to a high school outside of Tokyo for the rest of high school. They have a good medical program and I got accepted into it."

"Ore-sama is going to England as soon as the current school year finishes. Ore-sama will be working with Ore-sama's father at one of the branches of Atobe Corporations."

"I accepted an offer to go to Germany to train to be a professional tennis player. I probably won't be able to return to Japan for a while if the finishing transactions get through."

"I applied for a high school dealing specially in business that's in Osaka. They've accepted me, and I'll be transferring in a month or so."

Everyone gaped, mouths open and eyes wide, at the four boys who just up and suddenly announced that they would be leaving. For several moments, no one could speak, and then Eiji finally squeaked out, "_Nya?!,_" which, when translated from Eiji-language to normal Japanese, was, 'Repeat that please… five hundred or so times would be nice.'

Oishi sighed, shaking his head and offering a soft smile at his former doubles partner, who looked on the verge of tears. "Eiji, we repeated ourselves five times already. There's no way we can make it any clearer," he said gently. A loud sniffle came from the redhead as Miho patted him reassuringly on the back, murmuring soft words of consolation into his ear.

Suddenly, a thought struck Eiji and he pulled away from Miho, an absolutely horrified expression on his face. "If Oshitari's moving, then what about Miho?!" he asked. Before either of the Oshitari siblings could answer him Eiji was wailing at the sky. "I don't want Miho to go! Can't Miho stay here? Please, please, please, please!" He took a deep breath before wailing, "Oishi! Fujiko! Help me!"

"Eiji, Fuji's not even _here_ right now," Taka prodded gently, while everyone tried frantically to make Eiji stop wailing so that they wouldn't all end up in detention or something of the like.

"Who's not here right now?"

Everyone looked up to see Fuji and Asa standing there, looking puzzled. Eiji let out another loud sniffle and launched himself at Fuji, who caught the redhead with just a little difficulty. Eiji burrowed his head into the crook of Fuji's neck, sobbing miserably, trying to speak and failing at forming coherent sentences. Fuji simply patted his back and let the redhead hang off of his neck, crying for all he was worth.

"What's wrong?" Asa asked worriedly, glancing from Eiji to the group and back to Eiji. "Did something happen?"

Before anyone could answer Eiji was speaking, having recovered his ability to form sentences. "Atobe's going to a place close to the end of the world!" he whimpered. "Tezuka's going to the end of the world! Oshitari's moving and taking Miho with him and I'll never see Oishi ever again!"

Fuji was silent and Asa blinked, neither of the two being much enlightened then they were a moment ago. "Atobe-kun is going to a place that's close to the end of the world and Tezuka-kun _is_ going to the end of the world," Asa echoed.

Eiji nodded furiously. "And Oshitari's moving away and I'll never get to see Oishi ever again. Never ever."

Asa blinked again. "Where's the end of the world?" she asked, frowning lightly.

"Germany," Eiji whimpered.

Realization hit her, and she clapped her hands together. "Oh! I understand, now! Okaa-san was talking about this last night! Atobe-kun's going to England for a year in order to learn how to properly manage a big corporation under his father, and Oshitari-kun is moving back to Osaka for technically the same thing. I applied, too, for that business school."

"It's a pity your application didn't get accepted," Oshitari sighed. "I heard it was really close to getting accepted, though."

"So have I, but I guess it's alright. I've grown to like Tokyo," Asa said cheerily, while the color slowly returned to Fuji's face (it had paled slightly when Asa had said that she had applied for the business school as well). "Besides, there are always people who are going to be better than me out there in the world."

"Tezuka is going to Germany to train to be a pro, right?" Fuji asked curiously, sitting down on the ground so that the pull of gravity on his neck with Eiji still attached to it would be lessened, if only by a tiny bit. He looked up at Tezuka, who nodded.

"My coach during my rehabilitation found a coach that would be willing to train me. The finishing touches to the paperwork need to be ironed out, but if everything goes smoothly, I won't be able to return to Japan for a while," Tezuka answered, and Fuji nodded in understanding. A professional tennis player's training schedule was intense; Fuji just hoped that Tezuka got enough rest and good nutrition while he was on the road to becoming one. That a few emails and phone calls would be nice.

"And where are you going, Oishi? To the other end of the world, I'm presuming?" Fuji teased.

"Actually, I'm moving to Kyoto," Oishi admitted, although he chuckled lightly, not seeing the least bit disturbed with the news of him moving added onto everyone else's. "One of their high schools has a prestigious medical program that I've always wanted to get into. My application last year was rejected, but they let you continue to take the entrance exam throughout high school with appropriately formatted exams, which involves a bit of self-study. This year, I passed the exam."

Fuji flashed him a congratulatory smile and turned back to Eiji, who still looked absolutely miserable. "See? They're not going far, Eiji," he chided his best friend. "We can still talk to Tezuka, Atobe, Oshitari, and Oishi through phone calls and email."

Asa kneeled on the ground so that she could be eye-level with Eiji. "Besides," she said, taking one of his hands in her own, "they aren't going to be leaving until after this school year ends. That gives us a few more weeks with everyone!"

Miho nodded enthusiastically, kneeling on Eiji's other side. "That's right! Besides, I'm not going with Onii-san," she announced, and Eiji looked at her, incredulous. Miho smiled in evident amusement. "I got accepted into a high school there, but I've decided that I'm going to be staying here with Okaa-san. Otou-san and Onii-san are going to go to Osaka, and Okaa-san and I are staying in Tokyo." A relieved smile crossed Eiji's face and he let go of Fuji's neck. The honey-haired genius collapsed backwards, sighing lightly, enjoying his new-found freedom.

"I'm glad we got that sorted out," he said cheerily, while Eiji snuggled happily against Miho, chattering about something or another that didn't involve people moving away. "You guys better give me your contact information before you leave, otherwise I may be forced to take drastic measures in order to obtain them." There was a dangerous smile on his face that compelled each and every one of them, regardless of whether or not they were the four that were actually leaving, to nod. They didn't try to think about what those 'drastic measures' of Fuji's would be. If Fuji said something with _that_ smile on his face, then they could rest assured that the punishment wouldn't be pretty.

Fuji nodded to himself as he studied the information that was printed neatly on a sheet of paper. When he was satisfied that he had everything he needed, he pocketed the piece of paper, smiling like a Cheshire cat. "It's all good now!" he said cheerfully and his friends shrunk away from him, deathly afraid of this smiling boy named Fuji Syusuke.

A soft sigh directed everyone's attention to Asa. "What's wrong, Ijuuin-san?" Choutarou asked politely, studying the older girl.

"Ah… it's no big deal," Asa murmured, "but I'm going to miss everyone when they leave." She sighed again, getting off of her knees and straightening up her uniform. "Maa… I guess there are just some things that you can't do anything about."

She trailed off for a moment, before suddenly whirling on the four leaving. "If you dare to vanish and never contact us back, I swear that you'll face consequences far worse than what Fuji-kun can give you!"

Oshitari tilted his head to the side, asking, "And what consequences would these be?"

She glared at him, hands planted on her hips, lips pursed slightly as she thought. Her eyes suddenly brightened and she pointed to Inui, and there was a collective gulp. "There might be a way to send Inui Juice long distances. I wonder which one would work the best on everyone? Tezuka-kun must need a really strong one." She padded off, musing aloud the components of Inui Juice, Inui trailing behind to offer tips. Smiling impishly, Fuji leaped up, heading after them to add in his two cent's.

Miho patted her older brother on the arm. "Best not forget about us, Nii-san," she said. "I don't want to go to your funeral just yet." His answer was to glare at her, to which she shrugged and dashed after her friend, calling cheerfully for her to wait up.

***

It was the week after that that the graduation ceremony for the seniors commenced. Fuji honestly couldn't see the point of going to these end-of-term ceremonies. After all, the only ones who received recognition were the graduating seniors. Of course, the class representatives and the student council president got to go up and make a speech (it was actually quite amusing to listen to Tezuka have to give a speech in front of the entire student body, although he was quite good at it, having been the class representative for four years in a row, as well as student council president. He had had quite the experience with speech giving), but Fuji was not the class representative, nor the student council president, so he was forced to sit through the whole ceremony, staring into space with a bored expression on his face, pretending to look like he actually cared about what was going on around him.

He would have considered sleeping through the entire ceremony, actually, except that Miho was sitting next to him and between him and Eiji, and was in full monitoring mode, and in set intervals poked both Fuji and her boyfriend to make sure that they didn't fall asleep. Thus, sleeping was out of the question for anyone within Miho's poking range (some of the upperclassmen who sat in front of them were rudely awakened by Miho jabbing her finger into their shoulders).

When the ceremony was over, Fuji breathed out a sigh of relief, standing up and stretching luxuriously, yawning. Promptly, he was poked in the ribs by Miho, who glared at him. "Perk up!" she commanded, wagging a finger in his face. "Graduation ceremonies are not meant for you to sleep through them!" Miho was getting all fired up and promptly launched into a huge speech about graduation ceremonies that Fuji could only stand there and listen to (Eiji could have sworn that Fuji had even shrunk a little bit under Miho's tongue-lashing).

Fuji's savior came in the form of Asa, who was also yawning, which irked Miho to no end. She pounced on the other girl, freeing Fuji of listening to the lecture and instead transferring her efforts to Asa.

"Gomen, gomen, Miho-chan!" Asa pleaded, and Miho released her friend, although she was still grumbling about how people took graduation ceremonies so lightly. Asa sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "I know it's not a good thing to sleep through graduation ceremonies, but you'd think that they'd make it just a tad more interesting," she murmured. "I almost can't wait to graduate myself, except then I'd feel old. Sleep or be old? Decisions, decisions…" she sighed again, giving a light shake of her head.

"Ijuuin-chan."

Asa turned around to find Nakamura standing behind her, holding a flattish rectangular box, white in color, in his hands. "Nakamura-sempai!" Asa greeted, before glancing at the box curiously. "What's that?" she asked. "It looks like one of those boxes the tailors give you when they complete an order or something."

He chuckled softly. "It is, actually," he said easily, handing it over to her. Surprised, she took it, looking slightly puzzled. "Okaa-sama ordered a dress for you for tonight's event. It's custom-tailored; she got your measurements and favorite colors from your mother."

"Oh…"

He smiled at her before walking away. "I'll see you tonight, then," he called over his shoulder. She nodded mutely and he left, leaving her holding a box and not wanting evening to come.

***

Asa stood in front of her bedroom mirror, staring at her reflection, looking like an owl. Night had already fallen outside her window. She was wearing a floor-length evening gown, simple in design but much fancier than anything she had in her wardrobe. Its base color was cerulean blue, but many shades of blue blended together in the skirt, making it shimmer like the sea with even the faintest movement. It was beautiful. It was classy.

She shouldn't have been wearing it.

"Do you think I can not go?" she nearly begged her parents, who nodded approvingly at her appearance when she appeared in the living room.

"Absolutely not," her mother said, and she drooped, dejected. Kurumi and Narumi patted her on the shoulder, trying to comfort her. "And don't forget this." She handed a small white box to her, opening it to reveal the necklace that she had gotten for White's Day. "Nakamura-kun requested that you wear it, if just for this one time in your life." Not having the heart to protest, she took it and clasped it around her neck, where it dazzled and sparkled and made her feel stupid. Wearing high-class jewelry made her feel… small? Insignificant? It was like the gems were mocking her, almost.

Twenty minutes later, she was huddled in a corner of a packed room, trying to be a wallflower and failing miserably, if she had any say in the matter. Her dress and the gems around her neck gave her away almost instantly. That and it seemed that everyone present knew her or her family. Many people came up to her, introducing themselves, and she would nod and greet them as she dimly recalled that these family names that they were saying were those of really powerful and wealthy families.

She wanted to go home. Why couldn't she go home? This wasn't fair, making her stay here…!

Her eyes found Atobe and she breathed out a sigh of relief. _Atobe-kun!_ She actually knew someone here! Politely excusing herself, she started to walk towards him, calling his name when she was within hearing distance of him. He turned around, saw her, and nodded in greeting.

"You're here, too, Atobe-kun?" Asa asked curiously.

"Not only is Ore-sama here, but most of us are here," he said imperiously. True to his word, she found both Oshitaris, Gakuto, Jirou (although the blond looked sleepy and tired), Eiji, Oishi, and Fuji. Even Tezuka was there, much to her surprise.

She didn't get to stay long with her friends, because a hand landed on her shoulder. Glancing over her shoulder, she found herself face to face with Nakamura, who murmured something about getting ready in her ear. Uttering a tiny 'Oh,' she turned to follow him as he weaved through the crowd. Atobe watched her leave before turning to Fuji. "Ore-sama is surprised that you decided to come, Fuji," he said.

Fuji glanced at him, his head tilted to one side. "Well, I was going to be here whether or not I wanted to," he replied, "since this is what they term as a 'political union'." In truth, he would have been fine if he was allowed to stay home, but his mother had been adamant (his sister, too. For once, he was envious of Yuuta, who was over at St. Rudolph's dorms and thus didn't have to come).

There was a light tapping sound that echoed throughout the room, and everyone's attention turned towards the raised podium set up in the front of the room. Asa stood there, looking nervous, fiddling with the microphone, Nakamura standing at her right side, both sets of parents seated on the other. She swallowed nervously before offering a tiny smile at the audience. "Um… thank you for coming tonight," she squeaked out. _I sound pathetic,_ she thought, drooping a bit. She sounded more like a mouse than a person.

Besides her, Nakamura gave her a worried glance. He knew that it was a bad idea to have her speak. He had offered to be the one speaking during the event, but her parents had been firm in their decision.

_'There are some things that Aa-chan needs to clear up by herself,'_ her father had said. _'It would have no meaning if she didn't speak.'_

Nakamura had protested, naturally, but the older man had laid a hand upon his shoulder, where it rested, gentle but firm. _'I appreciate you wanting to help her, but in light of the situation, all you can do is support her. Let her do it; she's stronger than you think.'_

"Ijuuin-chan," Nakamura said slowly, and she turned to look at him. He offered her a crooked smile. "You can do it," he encouraged, and she smiled brightly, giving a nod, a silent 'thank you,' evident in her eyes.

Turning back to the microphone and the audience, she took a deep breath, steadying herself. It would be alright… her Nakamura-sempai was not far away and he was supporting her. She could do it. She could, she could, she could.

"As you all know, my parents and Nakamura-sempai's parents had proposed an engaged marriage between myself and Nakamura-sempai earlier this school year," she continued, her voice stronger, her head held a little bit higher. "I enjoyed getting to know Nakamura-sempai over the course of the school year. Nakamura-sempai is kind, considerate, and very much like an older brother figure to me. After careful consideration, the two of us decided… that we were going to cancel all marital arrangements between the two of us."

There was silence, and she pressed on, Nakamura giving her an encouraging smile. "While I understand that this move was to strengthen each of our families' respective businesses, I believe that there could be the potential to weaken them through this move. Should we have carried through with the original plans and something had gone wrong, it could bring both companies into the fray and possible exposure. I believe that, as friends, we can prevent this from happening since our private lives will have little interference with company running."

She glanced around the packed and silent room, gaze sweeping quickly over the people. "There is, however, another reason. Our parents gave us some leeway in our decisions; I was given the choice that if I felt nothing for Nakamura-sempai besides that of regular friendship I had every right to cancel the arrangement. To me, Nakamura-sempai is a good friend, but nothing more."

_That came out a bit harder than I would have liked it,_ she thought, glancing quickly over her shoulder. But Nakamura didn't seem to be fazed out by it, and so she continued, putting her last thought out there in front of all those people.

"There is already someone that I like. That's why I have to cancel this arrangement."

She bowed to the audience, breathing a soft sigh of relief. That worked out better than she would have ever expected. "Thank you for listening to me. Please enjoy the rest of your evening."

A poke in her shoulder as she straightened up made her pause. "What?" she asked, turning to Nakamura, who looked unsatisfied with something or another that she did not know.

"You forgot," he said, and she was puzzled. "You forgot to say who you liked."

"This was a confession?" she asked, oh-so-intelligently.

He groaned, throwing his hands up into the air in an exasperated manner. "Ijuuin Asa-chan, I officially give up on you. You have caused me to take drastic measures; I expect heartfelt thanks when this is all over." She blinked, thoroughly confused, and the next thing she knew, was stumbling backwards off of the podium. He had pushed her right off, and while it wasn't that high to begin with, she couldn't move her whole body beyond spastic twitches, not in the dress that she was wearing. She anticipated a hard landing as she twisted herself so that she could land on her hands and knees.

Fuji's eyes snapped open as he took off like a rocket from where he had been standing at Atobe's side. The diva watched in faint amusement as Fuji streaked away, weaving around people when he could, although he preferred to shove right through them. There were indignant protests, of course, but he paid them no heed. "Fast, isn't he?" he asked quietly. He was expecting no answer and got none, although Tezuka, standing at his other side, was shaking his head with an expression on his face that radiated with the 'twenty laps' threat. Atobe almost felt sorry for Fuji.

Almost, but not quite.

Fuji dashed forward, thankful that the spot where he had been standing had been close to the podium. He was also thankful for the immense amounts of training that he had to undergo for tennis. The genius made a vow to himself that he would never, ever, give up self-training even when he was grown and graduated, as he lounged forward, catching a girl who had already prepared herself for saying hello to the ground. "Got you," he murmured softly into her ear as he skidded to a halt, her head nestled on his chest, hands instinctively clutching at the material of his shirt.

Glancing up, he flashed an icy glare up at Nakamura, bristling. "What were you thinking?" he fairly hissed out. "You don't push people off of podiums!" _You don't push **Aa-chan** off of podiums,_ he added venomously in his mind, still glaring.

Nakamura ignored the seething Fuji, focusing his attention on Asa, instead. "You can say it, now, Ijuuin-chan," he called out cheerfully (_much too cheerfully, _Asa thought, _he definitely was planning something when he pushed me._). "It'd be a shame if you didn't since you seem to have his undivided attention right now."

Asa groaned softly; she had a sneaky sempai. Somehow, he was beginning to remind her of Fuji. Looking up, she was met with mildly curious cerulean eyes, which innocently posed the question of 'am I supposed to know something?' to her. At the same time, she came to a sharp realization of the compromising position she and Fuji were in, what with him sitting on the floor and her half-sprawled in his lap, in a public area, in front of some of the most influential people in Japan. With a squeak of 'I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to squish you!' she leapt up, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Or tried to, at least, since Fuji's hand clasped down on her wrist and effectively pulled her back into his lap, where she tumbled to with another squeak. "You didn't squish me," Fuji said, sounding amused. "I doubt you could if you wanted to." She frowned, giving him a glare of her own.

"Did you want something?" she huffed, trying to be dignified and failing (sparking an amused chuckle from Fuji).

"I did, actually," Fuji admitted, looking thoughtful. He held up three fingers. "Give me three clues. If I can guess who this person is, I'll leave you alone in relative peace and will do nothing other than to tease you about your crush for the rest of your life. If I can't, you get to pick a punishment for me, m'k? Just please don't make it drinking Aozu."

"That's childish, Fuji-kun," she answered, but seeing no way out, she agreed to give him clues. "Let's see… I met him after I moved to Tokyo." _I love vague clues,_ she thought happily to herself as she saw Fuji's puzzled expression, eyes roving around thoughtfully as she thought. "He's really popular with the girls in our school and outside. And this year, he's four years old." She stood up, brushing herself off, while Fuji remained silent, standing as well.

"You wouldn't be nice and tell me his name?" Fuji asked, to which she gave him a look that said 'what would be the point of giving you clues?' He sighed, feigning defeat, but his mind was still trying to grasp the whole situation, focusing on the last clue. Four years old… four years old… "Is he…"

He glanced up at her, wondering quietly to himself when she had acquired such a guarded look in her eyes. "…me?" he finished, not quite sure whether he should dare to hope. No other four-year old who was popular with girls at Asa's school came to mind, and if he thought about it, he _was_ four years old (such was the joys of being born on Leap Day).

Asa was silent, quietly contemplating what he said while Fuji bore holes into the side of her head. Finally, she grinned, reaching over so that she could lace her fingers through his. "His name is Fuji," she said cheerfully. "Fuji Syusuke."

An apologetic look flashed across her face as she looked up at him. "Sorry, Fuji-kun. I'm awfully slow, aren't I?"

"You're fast enough to deal with," Fuji said slowly, before one of those silly grins that Eiji usually wore crossed his face. He didn't have much time to revel in his triumph before Eiji and Jiroh had pounced on him, both excitedly chattering into his ears.

Smirking with a quiet satisfaction, Atobe turned from his friends, beginning to walk away. A soft voice interrupted him, asking him, "Aren't you going to go congratulate them?"

Atobe shrugged. "No. Ore-sama knew this was going to happen using Ore-sama's Insight."

Nakamura laughed, looking quite content despite the fact that his intended had dumped him. "Quite impressive… this Insight of yours."

"Of course."

***

The bell above the door jingled merrily and Asa glanced up from where she was placing a cup of hot chocolate in front of Kenta. The nine-year old ('I'm turning ten in two weeks!') paused in his happy chattering about school to look curiously at the door. "Good afternoon!" Asa called cheerily, a bright smile stretching across her face as she saw who entered.

Miho and Eiji waved to her before staking out a table. Fuji strode right up to her, hands falling lightly on her shoulders as he stole a quick kiss. He smelled faintly of wind and soap, apples and spices, the perfect combination of Fuji and tennis.

"I got a letter from Tezuka," Fuji murmured, stepping back, looking satisfied while Kenta stared up at him with wide eyes.

She clapped her hands together, looking excited. "Really? What did he say? How's training going? What's Germany like?"

He laughed gently at her enthusiasm, ruffling the hair on her head. "He's doing well. He's sweeping the tournaments, actually. It shouldn't be long before we see him in the big ones. I hear that his arm is doing fine, too, so there's no need to worry." She looked relieved at this, and Fuji handed the letter to her so that she could read it.

She turned the letter over in her hand, studying the neat handwriting that was so much like her Fuji's. "How was practice?" she asked, pocketing it to read later during her break.

"It feels funny with no one telling us to run laps," Fuji admitted, sitting down next to Eiji at the table while Asa got their orders. "And it's so quiet with no Atobe saying something or another about his prowess. No Oishi to be worried is a new thing, too. But we got Momo and Kaidoh this year; it's quite amusing with them on the team again. Hyoutei's Choutarou and Hiyoshi also joined us. With the sempais, we can make a strong team."

"Oishi still nags over the phone and email!" Eiji said happily, cutting into the conversation. "And Oshitari is still his usual self, reading romance novels, nya!"

"I'm glad that everyone seems well," Asa said. "Echizen-kun's going pro, too, isn't he? I saw an interview on TV the other day. He looked like he was enjoying himself." She vanished behind the counter and returned a few minutes later with orders, setting them down on the table. "Taka-san also said that his training was going along well. I can't wait to head over to Kawamura's Sushi some day. I'm sure his sushi tastes delicious."

"Mm-hm…" Fuji agreed, sipping carefully at his hot drink. These afternoons were quickly becoming his favorite, when he could stop by the shop and chat with Asa over their friends abroad and things that happened in the tennis club. Second years in high school, now, they were finding themselves more immersed in schoolwork than before, but he supposed it was alright if he could still visit the shop for a rewinding session before trekking home. Yuuta had entered high school; Fuji was excited over the prospect of playing his little brother in a tennis tournament.

When they got up to leave, paying their bill, Fuji snuck up on Asa, spinning her around and stealing another kiss from her. She gave a faint squeak of surprise; usually he only took one, so she hadn't been expecting this one, but he didn't quite mind. She tasted like chocolate and vanilla mixed together, like everything in the shop blended together until it got the perfect blend of sweetness.

"See you tomorrow," he said brightly. She smiled back and lifted her hand up, murmuring a soft, 'See you then,' watching them leave the shop before returning to her post.

* * *

A/N: I need to work on endings. *sighs* There will be an epilogue and then this will be finished! I'm almost a bit sad to finish this... :)

Until then, leaving a **review** would be nice! Thank you!


	17. Epilogue

**_Epilogue_**

Small hands were reaching up, fingers straining for the spoon that their owner could just see peeking out over the edge of the table. Determined to get the spoon, the little boy struggled a little harder, straining, straining, stretching his hand up and up and up towards the shining silver. Big blue eyes were focused solely on the target, the little mouth turning into a concentrated pout. That spoon was going to be his!

Stretching up onto his tiptoes, the child grabbed at the tablecloth, giving it a forceful tug down towards him. The tablecloth moved towards him, the spoon falling off, clattering to the floor. Squeaking happily, the child snatched it up and darted away, however, he paused at the dining room doorway when a plate fell from the table, looking over his shoulder. The plate landed on the hardwood floor, breaking into thirds, although it still retained its initial round shape.

The little boy whimpered slightly as footsteps sounded down the hall. A worried voice saying, "Hiroki? What happened?" resounded and the little one looked up sadly as his father stepped into the room. It wasn't his fault, honest! He only wanted a spoon for his yogurt.

"You're not hurt? Does anything hurt, Hiroki?"

Hiroki shook his head from side to side. A relieved sigh came from the older man as he was lifted up and carried off to the kitchen, set onto a toddler-proofed chair. A dish of yogurt was placed in front of him and his father ruffled his hair before vanishing to clean up the broken dish and right the table cloth.

Really… when your three-year old boy looks up at you with those watering blue eyes that simply screamed that he didn't mean to do it, how could you have the heart to punish them?

***

Two-year old Kunisuke woke up from his nap, yawning as he stretched his little self out on the futon. It had been placed against the wall in the living room, with a blanket pressed close to the wall for padding in case he rolled too much as he slept. Cerulean eyes stared curiously around him as the child rubbed his eyes.

Where was everyone?

Wiggling around, not exactly wanting to sit up and go explore his house for his missing family members, he tried to glance around, listening for footsteps. Then, _bump_ went his little head against the wall, and even though it had been padded, it still wasn't nice to bump your head against the wall.

Moving his hands to his head, Kunisuke checked for any bumps. There were none, but the more he felt around the more worried he got. His eyes widened and started to water, a faint whimpering escaping him, very tiny ones that no one heard.

Whimpers evolved into sniffles. Sniffles turned into outright wails. Where was everyone when you needed them?

Hurried footsteps were heard and then he was being picked up, brought to lean on a strong shoulder while a warm hand rubbed his back and a soft voice cooed to him, trying to soothe him. "Let me see. Did you hit your head?" Wails subsided to sniffles as he looked tearfully at his father while said father did a thorough examination of the little boy. "Saa… it's just a bump; nothing serious. You're a big boy, aren't you, Suke? This is nothing."

Whimper.

"Do you want yogurt? Will yogurt make you feel better?"

Instantly, the whimpering stopped. The child understood 'yogurt.' Yogurt was sweet and yummy and he liked yogurt. Hearing no further whimpers that might say 'no, yogurt will _not_ make me feel better,' he was transferred to the kitchen, set down in his highchair while his father got him some yogurt and a spoon. Not a trace of those sad little tears remained while the little one started to eat his treat.

Life lesson: when faced with your child threatening to pull the unstoppable waterworks, bribe them with yogurt. Yogurt, as a sweet dessert, is able to cater to all of the child's needs for up to fifteen minutes, where you will have nothing to deal with except for globs of yogurt flying off of the spoon because your child is just so happy to be eating it.

***

Hiroki, having finished his yogurt and was freed to play around the house (it was raining outside, quite heavily, too), chased after a ball that he had thrown just a tad farther than he had wanted. And lo and behold, the ball _rolled_.

Away from him.

Hiroki scrambled after the ball that was intent on escaping the clutches of the child who wanted to play with it, ran out of the living room into the hallway, charged down the hallway past his father's study, inside where his father was trying so very hard to get his work done and probably wouldn't appreciate the ruckus that the three-year old was making.

Of course, Hiroki didn't care as long as he was having fun. Play came first, after all.

He gave a squeak of surprise as he tripped over his own two feet, such was the haste he was using to catch the rolling ball, tumbling to the ground onto his hands and knees and then flopping down onto his belly. He wasn't hurt; nothing terrible or life-threatening would fall upon him… but…

Hiroki let out a tremendous half-scream, half-wail, one that clearly conveyed all of the wrongs that the world wrought upon his little self to all who could and would hear him. Almost instantly, the door to the study swung open and he was whisked up off of the floor as his father squatted down and sat him on his knee. Perched there, Hiroki sniffled while he was subjected to a quick examination for any hurts. But asides from his hands being a bit red from the impact of catching himself on the floor, his knees being a bit sore, and perhaps his stomach a tiny bit as well, Hiroki was fine.

His father blew out a sigh of relief as he switched gears, going into soothing mode where he was set busily to work wiping away tears. "Hush, Hiroki, hush," he crooned, letting the little boy cling to him and whimper. "Do you want to look at some new pictures that Papa took?" It would probably be better off for everyone if Hiroki was within immediate sight of the adult in charge.

He seemed to consider this for a moment, crossing his arms over his small chest before nodding, allowing himself to be put onto the floor where he followed at his father's heels. Inside the study, he was lifted up and sat on the small sofa that his father had moved there, amidst the cushions which he snuggled happily into. A set of pictures was given to him and Hiroki passed the rest of the hour flipping through the pictures of French scenery, over and over and over again.

Life's second lesson: if bribing with yogurt can not be efficiently pulled off (such as the fact that your child has already eaten yogurt that day and you do not wish to have a sugar-high child on your hands), employ the use of colorful, professional photographs of majestic landscapes from exotic lands. Your child will be quiet and you will have peace for approximately thirty minutes until the little one gets bored with the pictures or some other crisis demands your immediate attention.

***

Kunisuke (Suke for short, since it was a hassle to say such a long name when referring to such a little boy) lived with his mother, his father, his older brother, and their two cats in a house in a nice neighborhood near the outskirts of Tokyo. One of the cats was an older white one, who preferred to spend much of her day sitting on the windowsill in his parents' room, soaking up the warmth of the sun. When she wasn't doing _that_, she was usually curled into a fluffy white ball on the living room sofa with twitching ears as she listened to the cartoons that Hiroki and Suke watched, stalking the kitchen for imaginary mice, escaping from little Suke's mother when she wanted to give her a bath, or teaching the other cat of the house important survival skills amidst humans.

That, or… napping next to Suke on the futon, tail curled over the little one's stomach as she dreamed of… whatever cats dreamed of.

The other cat was a kitten, one who his parents had adopted into the household a few months ago. She was a tortoiseshell tabby, with bright green eyes, and probably the softest fur Suke had ever stroked in the entirety of his life. Her name was Cinnamon.

Suke loved her dearly.

Cinnamon didn't love him half as much.

Currently, Cinnamon was sitting on the floor, stock-still as little Suke petted her and stroked her fur and fondled with her ears, occasionally letting out a faint mew of protest. She didn't get up and walk away; doing so would result in waterworks and then scoldings from the bigger humans and a cuff in the head from a white paw by the older cat, whose name was Seika. Cinnamon might not have been in a human household for a long time but she was smart and adapted well.

She put up well with little children who were overly fond of kittens, too.

When Suke wandered off to do whatever it was that caught his attention, Cinnamon got up, shook out her coat, and strode out of the room, intent on staking herself an area that was peaceful and child-free. Eventually, she found it, in the seat of the big, comfy chair that was in the downstairs study.

It was already occupied by Seika, but the white cat was persuaded to move over to give the smaller Cinnamon a little room by a few persuading licks to her ear. So now there was a fluffy cushion that had two pairs of eyes on the chair.

When Suke came back and couldn't find his cat, his response was to cry, and it wasn't long before he was persuaded into the study, where he was set down next to his brother. Both cats had dozed off by that time, and the children's father occupied their attention by sitting down in between them and pulling a few photo albums towards them.

"Let Seika-chan and Cinnamon-chan sleep," he told his youngsters. "We can look through some pictures." He spread the albums out on the floor in front of the sofa. "Which one do you two want to look at?"

Both boys pointed to the one on the far left, the one that was a pretty shade of blue with a simple white ribbon glued to one corner as decoration. In a few minutes, all three were poring over pictures, with Hiroki happily chirping, "It's Daddy!" or "It's Mommy!" whenever he saw his parents in the pictures, Suke echoing him.

Suffice it to say that when one is busy entertaining two small children, whatever other work that _should_ be done does _not _get done.

***

Asa let herself into the house, looking left and right, wondering how on earth her house could be so… _quiet_. There were no kids bouncing around, no cats mewing and trying to get her attention by twining around her ankles and tripping her as a result, no husband pouncing on her and stealing a kiss or vice versa…

Enjoying this newfound peace at returning home but at the same time feeling wary, she stepped fully into the house, shutting the door behind her and taking off her shoes, making a beeline for the kitchen. It was quiet; no preparations for dinner had been made (although she could tell from the shoes by the door that everyone was home). Heaving a soft sigh, she set down the two bags of groceries that she carried onto the counter, heading to the closet to hang up her coat and purse. Leaving dinner for later, she strode down the hall to find the members of her family.

They were all in the study, humans and felines. The two cats were fast asleep on the chair by the desk; the little ones were napping on the sofa, snuggled amidst the cushions and pressing against their father's side. Their father was half sprawled on the sofa, his head leaning back, eyes closed like he was asleep.

She knew better than that, stealing lightly over to the sofa, careful not to make any sound lest her little ones wake up. "What are you doing, feigning sleep?" she teased lightly, eyes sparkling.

The corners of his lips twitched upwards. "Saa… I can't fool you any more, can I?" he asked, though he did not open his eyes or turn them into their usual smile. He was very clear with what he wanted; Asa could only shake her head slightly from side to side before kissing him gently on the lips.

"Happy now?"

"Quite." Those eyes opened, revealing a stunning cerulean that could capture and hold anyone who looked into them, even if that person had been looking at them for five or so years. "I didn't make dinner."

"I know," she answered, brushing aside a few stray locks of his honey-brown hair from his forehead, eyes roving to the little ones who were snoozing peacefully. "They'll be up all night… Hiroki just woke up from a nap when I left and Suke was still napping. You must not want any sleep tonight."

He chuckled, amused although she could not find anything amusing with having to entertain toddlers into the wee hours of the night. "I'm used to waking up early. If you think I'm going to be late to pick him up I'd like to kindly ask you to reconsider." He sat up, nudging the little ones gently to the side as he stood. "We haven't seen him in person in years, haven't we?" he asked, stretching his arms leisurely above his head.

"We only ever see Kawamura-kun, Oshitari-kun, Shishido-kun, Choutarou-kun, and Eiji-kun in person on a semi-regular basis," she mused, looking torn between waking her children up now or doing so when she had finished making dinner. "Eiji-kun we see because he and his family live right down the street from us. We go Kawamura's sushi shop quite regularly. Oshitari-kun we see occasionally because he's Kurumi's business partner. Shishido-kun and Choutarou-kun because they're teachers at the local kindergarten where Hiroki will be going next year." She sighed lightly; growing up really was a hassle. While she was happy for everyone's careers she wished they could get together to see each other more often.

"Tezuka-kun is a tennis pro that we only get to see on TV. You'd better get to the airport with at least fifteen minutes to spare or else he'll get mauled by fans; he has quite a big fan club in Japan, you know. Don't make it be a repeat of what you did to your brother last year. You were an hour late and made poor Yuuta-kun ride a taxi all over Tokyo because you conveniently failed to give him our address."

He held up his hands in surrender. "I sent him a message! How was I supposed to know that his Internet broke down and he couldn't read it? I'm not physic, Aa-chan." She didn't believe him.

"Just make sure that doesn't happen again, Fuji Syusuke! Tezuka-kun will probably make you run laps around the neighborhood."

"It'll be nice though… I haven't heard anyone tell me to run laps in years," he chirped as she left the study to go prepare dinner.

He turned to his desk, stroking both cats on the head lightly. They woke up, blinking up at him, before stretching and leaping down, striding out the door with their tails held high in the air. No doubt they would be taking positions in the kitchen, just waiting for the sound of the can opener or the sound of milk pouring into a dish. Sitting in his now vacated chair, he pulled his laptop towards him, powering it up and opening a folder, pulling up his work from that afternoon, a new photo album that he hoped he would be able to finish by the end of the week. 'Reunion,' it was titled, with a subtitle, 'Did we change much?'

He hoped they didn't, personality-wise at least.

Oishi was now a doctor, living and working in Kyoto. According to the last email that he had sent he had gotten engaged to a nurse that worked with him. Fuji had set aside an entire page for photos that he was going to take of the couple when he saw them at tomorrow night's Seigaku-exclusive reunion.

Kaidoh worked in a sports center where he helped with athletes in the rehabilitation program by designing and carrying through training menus.

Momoshiro was a physical education teacher at Seigaku as well as the new boy's tennis coach since Ryuuzaki-sensei had retired a few years back.

Echizen had gone pro with Tezuka, both of them sweeping the tournaments until they were the two players that every magazine focused on, that every tennis fan wanted to be like, that any girl wished she could have as a boyfriend (they were quite charming when they weren't so focused on smashing their opponents on the other side of the net).

Inui had started his own juice company and now sold health drinks internationally (he had sent a sample to Fuji, who thought it had tasted quite delicious. It was safe to drink, too, which was a big improvement).

Eiji had gotten married after dating on and off with Miho and other girls, and now he and Miho had twins, a boy and girl named Sora and Aya respectively. Both were three years old and Hiroki's partners-in-crime (or playmates, whichever suited the situation). Eiji ran a pet shop and Fuji could usually get cat supplies for a discount from him, which he greatly appreciated.

Taka's sushi business was doing well. Even though his prices weren't as high as the prices that other, bigger stores were offering, he was getting a lot of costumers who preferred his place to others. Kawamura's sushi had an air of warmth and friendliness that was sometimes lacking in the bigger stores, and Taka-san was one of the best sushi chefs in Japan (having been mentioned in the top five once. Fuji had cut out the news clipping and wrote, 'That's our Taka-san!' on it and had given it to the former power player. It now hung in a place of honor on the wall of Kawamura's Sushi, next to a framed picture of the tennis team from junior high).

Fuji himself was doing well. He was now a professional photographer, ranked in the top three internationally, specializing in landscapes with dabblings of portraits to amuse himself when he didn't feel like travelling. He was the father of two children, Fuji Hiroki and Fuji Kunisuke, the latter named by combining Tezuka's and his own name, since when he was born he looked a bit like Tezuka, the way his little forehead was all scrunched up and his mouth was puckered into a frown (when he had told Tezuka that in a phone call a few days later Tezuka had not been able to say anything more than, 'Oh.' Fuji considered it a personal victory). He and Asa had broken up their third year in high school, studies and going to different colleges making it difficult for them to get together inconvenient for them both. Fuji had dated sporadically in the years later on before he had managed to bump into her again while at a business convention. They caught up with each other as best as they could, tried dating again, and eventually had gotten married and formed a family. Asa had ceded her position as a CEO of the Ijuuin-Oshitari electronic company to her little sister Kurumi when caring for two little ones and a constantly travelling husband had proved to be a bit too much to handle (apparently, taking toddlers to important business meetings was frowned upon). So, business-wise, she only worked when Kurumi ran to her and begged for help on contracts and the like. She was a mentor, of sorts, or perhaps something to help keep Oshitari sane when he could no longer deal with spunky Kurumi.

"Saa… we've all changed so much," Fuji mused to himself. It was nostalgic, a bit saddening, but it was nice… this feeling of change. Life would be boring without change, and even if they were afraid of change, it still had to happen. Waking up his little ones, he herded them into the kitchen and sat them in their chairs while Asa set the table.

He hadn't seen some of his old friends in years. Some he had only communicated with through emails and the rare phone call. There was also some that he only got to know about their ventures and whereabouts through tabloids in the paper and magazine. What would they be like in person? Could he still see some of their junior high selves in them? Or would they be like new people that he would have to get to know all over again.

"Friends are friends, you know." He looked up and was met with Asa's smile as she set down the last plate. "Even if they've changed, they're still your friends."

He smiled softly. "I know," he said. "But I can still be nervous, can't I?" She chuckled and nodded while the two little boys squeaked for their dinner.

The next day, Fuji stepped into Kawamura's Sushi, herding Kunisuke in front of him while Hiroki skipped after him, followed closely by Asa and Tezuka, who was spending the days of his visit away from the pro circuits at the Fujis' home. There were cries of 'Fuji!', 'Fujiko-chan!', 'Tezuka!', and 'Buchou!' as Fuji turned his little ones loose in the safety of the shop and dragged himself and Tezuka into the happy faces and cheerful greetings of his old teammates.

He had been silly, worrying so much over how people had changed. Sure there were changes, but they were still the people that he knew underneath those new changes. Off to the side Asa flashed him a _See?_ smile before getting glomped by Miho and dragged over to a table.

Smiling widely, he turned to his friends. "It's been a while. How is everyone doing?"

* * *

A/N: I've finished! I feel so accomplished! :)

This ends my Shine/Sugar Sweet arc, although I might make a Miho-centric side story if I ever get the time and feel inspired. it's been fun writing this, even if it took forever (at least, it feels like that).

Reviews would be nice, like always. Thank you all who read and reviewed and to everyone who will (hopefully) read this. ^_^


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